Load up your mags and put your tin foil hats on...

[scootergeek]

This is the first i've seen of this on mainstream news. I also posted this on XDtalk for those that post there as well.

SPREAD THE WORD...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first10 ... sault-ban/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[longtooth]

Dont get an article just a google bunch of garbage.

[sbb]

Link worked for me. It went straight to Fox News Politics page. This is similar to an article on NRA-ILA page stating that Holder wants to ban assault weapons to help Mexico.

[MTICop]

I'm getting the same thing on all FoxNews links. The article is up for about two seconds then it goes directly to a Google search page. Never had that happen before. May one you many computer-literate people can help us electronically challenged people out.

[Commander Cody]

I am not very computer literate, but it works for me.

[longtooth]

Still did not work for me so will try again later.

[Mike1951]

Gun Advocates Ready for Battle on Federal Assault Weapons Ban
Attorney General Eric Holder is using the drug violence in Mexico to "confuse and mislead" Americans in an attempt to reinstate the expired federal assault weapons ban, gun advocates say.
By Joshua Rhett Miller

FOXNews.com

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Get ready for a gunfight.

Attorney General Eric Holder is using the drug violence in Mexico to "confuse and mislead" Americans in an attempt to reinstate the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban, gun advocates claim.

Holder revealed his intention to reinstate the ban last month while announcing more than 700 arrests in connection with a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States.

"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to re-institute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder said. "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum."

Holder said reinstating the ban would decrease the flow of guns from the U.S. into Mexico. He declined to offer a timeframe for any re-implementation; Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller also declined comment on Tuesday.

But Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told FOXNews.com that Holder's "argument in general is bizarre."

"It's a delusion to say that diminishing the Second Amendment in America is somehow going to stop these ruthless drug cartels in Mexico."

LaPierre called on Holder and Justice Department officials to uphold existing laws and focus on increasing enforcement along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, rather than consider additional legislation.

"The answer is to enforce the law on both sides of the border," LaPierre said. "I reject the notion that the reenactment of that ban would have any impact on the Mexican drug cartels."

LaPierre, referring to the drug-related violence that killed more than 6,200 people in Mexico last year, accused Holder of trying to "put a failed political agenda on the back of a national tragedy."

Signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban prohibited the sale of ammunition clips with more than 10 rounds and 19 types of semi-automatic military-style guns, including AK-47s and AR-15s. The ban expired in 2004, and a 10-year extension proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was voted down.

Click here for photos.

Michael Hammond, spokesman for the Gun Owners of America, said he was not surprised by Holder's comments.

"We expected the Obama administration, contrary to promises made during the campaign, to do everything it can to go after us," Hammond said. "It's no surprise to us that [Holder] is using a crisis as an argument to achieving his policy goals."

During a House subcommittee hearing last week, Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, warned against making U.S. gun owners "scapegoats" for the Mexican crisis.

"The message here is clear: According to some, the violence in Mexico is not the fault of the drug cartels or their American customers, nor is it the fault of decades of Mexican government corruption," Cox said in prepared remarks.

"In their view, the fault lies with American gun owners. This is an outrageous assertion."

Authorities should ramp up border security and continue targeting so-called straw buyers who do the cartels' "dirty work," Cox said.

But Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center, testified at the subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on Thursday that the U.S. civilian gun market is fueling violence in Mexico and on both sides of its border.

"If one set out to design a 'legal' market conducive to the business of funneling guns to criminals, one would be hard-pressed to come up with a 'better' system that the U.S. civilian gun market -- short of simply selling guns directly to criminals from manufacturer and importer inventories," Diaz said in prepared remarks.

"The U.S. gun market not only makes gun trafficking in military-style weapons easy, it practically compels that traffic because of the gun market's loose regulations and the gun industry's ruthless design choices over the last several decades."

Citing February 2008 congressional testimony of William Hoover, assistant director of field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Diaz said military-style weapons like the Barrett .50-caliber rifle, the Colt AR-15 .223-caliber assault rifle and the AK-47 are "precisely the makes and models of firearms that have been carefully designed, manufactured or imported and heavily marketed over the last 20 years by the U.S. civilian gun industry."

More than 7,770 guns sold in the U.S. were traced to Mexico last year, up from 3,300 in 2007 and roughly 2,100 in 2006, according to ATF statistics. It was not immediately clear what percentage of those guns fell under the United States' federal assault weapons ban.

Diaz also cited ATF tracing data that shows Mexican drug cartels receive between 90 and 95 percent of their firearms from the United States.

Along with measures such as targeting Texas, Arizona and California -- the three primary states where firearms are illegally smuggled into Mexico -- Diaz called for the implementation of an "effective" federal assault weapons ban modeled on a bill introduced in 2007 by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.

Diaz said manufacturers continued to sell assault weapons throughout the ban by making minor design changes. He also called for the passage of a bill introduced by Feinstein during the last session of Congress that would regulate .50-caliber sniper rifles under the National Firearms Act.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers like Alaska Sen. Mark Begich and Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have already informed Holder that they'll vigorously oppose any new gun restrictions the Obama administration may be considering.

In a letter to Holder shortly after his comments, all three senators urged the Justice Department to focus on enforcing existing laws.

And Arizona state Sen. Jonathan Paton, who testified at last week's hearing, said additional gun laws are just not the answer.

"It would actually hurt the problem rather than help it," Paton, a Republican, said of re-instituting the federal assault weapons ban. "They're not giving us the resources on the laws that we already have on the books. What makes me think they're going to give us the resources for new laws?"

Paton cited Mexico's far stricter gun laws as proof that new domestic laws in the United States won't deter criminals intent on trafficking arms.

"It's not going to solve the problem you have with M-16s and AK-47s; they're already banned and they're already going into Mexico at a feverish pace," Paton told FOXNews.com. "The day they start taking their border security as serious as we do, Mexico will cut down tremendously on its amount of guns."

[Texd40]

Link worked for me also. No problems, except thinking about next four years.

Txd40
Hill Country

[MTICop]

Thanks Mike1951. I appreciate it.

[bubba1876]

FoxNews website has been doing that to me all day. I just hit the link, then when it pops up, quickly hit the "X" button to stop the reload.

[Purplehood]

I am sorry, but I don't see the logic in a gun-ban to help another country.

Diminish our rights in order to assist a country that is close to anarchy with or without our help?

I see it simply as another attempt to justify beating an old horse to death.

[nuparadigm]

The Democrat Party may be crazy, but it's not populated with fools. Chances are, Democrat House members will remember what happened in 1994; even if Holder and Obama dont.

[Liberty]

Let me see if I got this right.

Most guns are illegal in Mexico Most people are not allowed to own guns.

Most people are allowed to have scary guns in the United states.

Mexico has a problem with their Criminals being out of control

We lock up our criminals in jail.

People in the United Are Pretty Civilized and polite even along the border.

Our criminals understand that the good guys sometimes shoot back and defend themselves

Mexican Police are scared, that the bad guys are going to try to shoot them.

Our gun policy is obviously working better for us than Mexico's is for them.

And Holder wants to make our gun laws more like Mexico's?

I don't understand the logic. Shouldn't Hillary be trying to convince Mexico to permit their citizens to arm themselves?

[bryang]

I just saw an interview with the NRA president on FOX and he said that all this talk about 90% of the guns going into Mexico is coming from the USA is absolutely false. The Mexican drug cartels are not getting their weapons from America, instead they are receiving them from other rogue countries in the region and the Mexican army. He said the .50 cal that they are jumping up and down about were sold by the US to the Mexican ARMY several years ago (can not remember all the details...it's that senior thing) anyway, it is the corrupt police force and army that is the reason these .50 cal are turning up in the drug cartels. I can not believe how the antis and corrupt politicians are using Mexico as an excuse to try and push more gun bands on us. And it is the same old story...this is an emergency, the sky is falling, we are going to have this drug war spilling over in our streets, we have to get this done right now!!! ...what read the bill?....oh no, there is not time. We must act now!!... good grief.

-geo

[Stupid]

Mexico's problem is for Mexican to solve. It's not our problem. Sacrificing our rights to "fix" their problem? I thought I was stupid.