Quote:
Originally Posted by Slims
How can you argue that additional gun control legislation is not on Obamas agenda when he says quite clearly that it is on the whitehouse.gov website?
I can understand and agree with the argument that he has bigger fish to fry and it won't be at the top of his to do list, and I also agree that many senators/congressmen will be loath to support anti-gun legislation due to the fallout from the '94 ban. However, it IS on his agenda (and the democratic parties agenda) and therefore could possibly end up in a bill whenever the opportunity presents itself.
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Because its on the WH website or the DNC platform doesnt put it on the agenda in any "real time" political terms. They are broad policy statements, quite different from an action agenda. IMO based on the realities of the political landscape, it is not on the top of his to-do list or the bottom of his to list or anywhere on his list....everything in a policy statement doesnt make its way into a component of a legislative agenda.
But it makes a convenient red herring for the NRA and gun rights advocates to continue to spread misinformation like....
....the notion that something "could possibly end in a bill" (just another myth).
Gun control legislation is not like an earmark...it just doesnt appear or "end up" in a bill...it would have to take the form of a "substantive" amendment and it only takes one Senator to kill it instantly or at the very least to force it to go through a rigorous process in at least one house and then kill it later.
You just simply cant ignore the political realities.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timalkin
It would be different if you actually had some experience with guns, but you have ZERO credibility when you talk about how bad they are/people don't need them. Get some experience with those little metal/plastic/wooden machines and you'll find out that they're only as bad as the human behind them. Ban criminals, not guns.
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Stop with this experience bullshit, please!
One doesnt need to have been a reporter to have an opinion on or understand the rights of a free press under the 1st amendment.
One doesnt need to have gone through the criminal justice system to have an opinion or understand the rights of a defendant under the 4th and 5th amendments.