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Round Two Of Gun Control Battle: Extension Of Federal Background Checks

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Photo Credit: Christian Gooden/AP

In the early hours of Monday morning, James Seevakumaran pulled the fire alarm in his dorm at a Florida university, at the start of what he intended to be the latest mass shooting to horrify the nation. The plan was to force his fellow students out of their rooms, so he could “give them hell” with a military-style assault rifle equipped with a high-capacity magazine and plenty of back-up ammunition.

It was only the sharp wits of Seevakumaran’s room-mate that spared the US another massacre. He locked himself in the bathroom and called 911; as the SWAT team arrived minutes later the would-be gunman turned his rifle on himself and, before he had the chance to take anyone else’s life, ended his own.

A few hours later, Harry Reid, the majority leader in the US Senate, called his fellow Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein into his office and gave her some disappointing news. He told her that the chances of success of the bill she had sponsored – a ban on the sale of the type of assault rifle that Seevakumaran had just come so close to using – were so remote that he had decided to drop it from the gun control legislation that he will be bringing to the Senate floor next month.

Reid’s dumping of Feinstein’s assault weapons ban marks the first stage in the epic political struggle over guns prompted by the Newtown school tragedy in December, in which 20 children and six teachers were killed. Round one goes to the pro-gun lobby and its cheerleader, the National Rifle Association.

Now, almost exactly 100 days after the Sandy Hook massacre, round two begins. The stakes are even higher. On Thursday night, Reid indicated that unlike the assault weapons ban, he would be including in his bill a provision to extend federal background checks to all gun sales.

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NY SAFE Act Nabs Its First Gun Owner: An Iraq War Vet

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Photo Credit: Buffalo News

A Western New York man now faces seven years in prison for violating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new gun control-law, the NY Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (or SAFE Act).

Benjamin M. Wassell, an Iraq War veteran, was charged with twice selling newly banned military-style ‘assault’ weapons and standard-capacity magazines to an undercover police officer as part of a sting operation conducted by State Police and the New York Attorney General’s Office, the Buffalo News reported.

Altogether, the 32-year-old Silver Creek resident was slapped with three felony charges and one misdemeanor, which as noted could end up putting Wassell, who has no prior convictions, behind bars for as many as seven years.

“By selling these illegal firearms, Mr. Wassell’s actions had potentially dangerous consequences for New Yorkers,” said state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “We have seen far too much gun violence in our state in recent months, and the sale of illegal semiautomatic weapons will not go unpunished.”

On Jan. 24 Wassell sold a Del-Ton AR-15 to an undercover agent along with six standard-capacity magazines and 299 rounds of ammunition for $1,900.

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Senate Gun Bill Would Expand Background Checks

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Gun control legislation the Senate debates next month will include an expansion of federal background checks for firearms buyers, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday in a victory for advocates of gun restrictions.

The announcement underscores that Democrats intend to take an aggressive approach in the effort to broaden the checks, currently required for transactions involving federally licensed firearms dealers but not private sales at gun shows or online.

President Barack Obama and many supporters of curbing guns consider an expansion of the system to private gun sales to be the most effective response lawmakers could take in the wake of December’s elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn. The system is designed to keep guns from criminals, people with serious mental problems and others considered potentially dangerous.

The overall gun measure will also include legislation boosting penalties for illegal gun trafficking and modestly expanding a grant program for school security, said Reid, D-Nev. Its fate remains uncertain, and it will all but certainly need Republican support to survive.

Reid said that during Congress’ upcoming two-week break, he hopes senators will strike a bipartisan compromise on broadening background checks. Without a deal, he indicated the gun bill would include a stricter version approved this month by the Senate Judiciary Committee and authored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expanding the system to virtually all private gun transactions with few exceptions.

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The Epic Gun Control Testimony You’ve Been Waiting For: ‘The Constitution Did Not Guarantee Public Safety, It Guaranteed Liberty’

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Photo Credit: YouTube

How do Connecticut residents feel about the crackdown on the Second Amendment? Well, there are people from both sides making passionate arguments on the issue, however, one gentleman last week was able to make a particularly persuasive case against more gun control and in favor of the U.S. Constitution.

Meet Robert Steed, a resident of Vernon, Conn. who took three days straight off work to attend several gun control hearings in Connecticut. On March 14, Steed was more “aggravated” than usual with lawmakers and he let them know it in his fiery testimony, telling them that they were “coloring outside the lines of constitutional parameters.”

“This is the third day I’ve taken off of work to come here to, like so many of the rest of us, to plead with you for us to keep our guns because of some wing-nut in Newtown, Connecticut,” he said. “If that isn’t inherently wrong, I don’t know what is. That these bills are even in proposed form is scary enough. That any of you could possibly be undecided is scary enough. What are you looking at?”

He went on: “I can’t for the life of me understand how this state can have as many gun laws on the books as it does and have members of its Legislature need to take firearms 101. And as far as what I felt were potshots taken at the NRA, they’ve done more for gun safety– they’ll do more for gun safety this weekend than this committee will do in your careers.”

Connecticut will be the next state set to tackle new gun control measures is Connecticut, the same state where the tragic Newtown massacre occurred. On Tuesday, a key committee of the state’s General Assembly unanimously approved expanding criminal background checks. On Wednesday, lawmakers were set to discuss expanding the state’s current ban on so-called “assault weapons” to include even more firearms as well as additional magazine limits and universal background checks.

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New York State Offering $500 To People Who Snitch On Gun Owners

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Liberty News

WRGB in Albany has a breaking news story posted to their Facebook page, claiming that the state of New York is offering up bribes for people to rat out those possessing illegal firearms – an interesting development considering the adoption of the new anti-Second Amendment SAFE Act legislation. In other words, a firearm that may have been obtained legally could become illegal under the SAFE Act, and anybody who knows you possess said firearm can report you and earn themselves a cool $500.

In addition to the Facebook page, Pat Bailey, a reporter from at CBS 6 in Albany, tweeted that he has a letter from the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services explaining the reward program.

According to Bailey, the Governor’s Office is claiming that the program is well over a year old. But the head of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association says that if that is accurate, “it was a well kept secret”.

The Troy Record Facebook page also has this announcement:

NY State has established a toll-free tip line – 1-855-GUNSNYS (1-855- 486-7697) to encourage residents to report illegal firearm possession. The tip line also allows for information to be submitted via text – individuals can text GUNTIP and their message to CRIMES (274637). The New York State Police staff the tip line 24 hours a day. Upon receiving a call, troopers will solicit as much information as possible regarding a firearm tip then contact the appropriate police agency with the lead to initiate an investigation. If the information leads to an arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm, the “tipster” will be awarded $500.

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Democrats Throw In Towel On Assault Weapons Ban

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has significantly weakened gun control legislation, stripping a provision that would have banned assault-style weapons and high-capacity gun clips.

The move will make it easier for the Senate to pass a milder gun control bill that deals mostly with controlling who can purchase a gun. It also spares red-state Senate Democrats running in 2014 from having to vote on a bill that could cost them re-election.

“An assault weapons ban was always a poison bill that was great for the White House to talk about but politically damaging for those vulnerable Democrats representing red states to support,” Ron Bonjean, a Republican political strategist and former House and Senate leadership aide, told The Washington Examiner.

The Senate will vote on a gun control bill measure in April, but it won’t include a proposal authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would have made it illegal to purchase military-style assault weapons and gun clips that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Feinstein announced the provision in the weeks following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, standing with shooting victims and law enforcement agents near a wall displaying some of the 157 assault-style weapons she hoped to make illegal. Feinstein’s measure cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week with the support of the panel’s Democratic majority, but no Republicans voted for it. Beyond the committee, some Democrats from pro-gun states were against it.

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Colorado Sheriff Says He Won’t Enforce the State’s New Gun-Control Measures

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Photo Credit: Brennan Linsley

A Colorado sheriff says he won’t enforce two aggressive gun-control measures waiting to be signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke told The Greeley Tribune that Democratic lawmakers are scrambling after recent mass shootings, and the bills are “feel-good, knee-jerk reactions that are unenforceable.”

One bill expands background checks on firearm purchases, and the other limits ammunition magazines to 15 rounds. The 15-round magazine limit would make Colorado the first state outside the East Coast to ratchet back gun rights after last year’s shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn.

Colorado’s gun-control debates have been closely watched because of the state’s gun-loving frontier heritage and painful history of mass shootings, most recently last summer’s movie theater shooting that killed 12.

The sheriff said he “won’t bother enforcing” the laws because it would be impossible for officers to keep track of how the requirements are being met by gun owners – and he and other sheriffs are considering suing the state to block the measures if they are signed into law.

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Video: Coulter Blasts Feinstein’s Reaction To Ted Cruz’s Gun Regulation Questions

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

In an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel program on Thursday night, conservative commentator Ann Coulter blasted California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for telling Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz at a hearing earlier in the day that she’s “not a sixth-grader” when he attempted to analogize the First and Second Amendments.

“He asked some very important questions, and Dianne Feinstein, like her other ‘I am woman, hear me roar’ Democratic female Hillary Clinton, as soon as they get a question they don’t like, they start crying,” Coulter said. “Oh that’s fantastic.”

Coulter, the author of “Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama,” then made her own comparison of the first two amendments.

“She raised the First Amendment and she said, ‘Well, we banned child pornography.’ The very answer proves the absurdity of what is happening. The First Amendment protects speech, not photographs. It certainly does not protect photographs of genitals. If we interpreted the Second Amendment,which protects arms, the way we interpreted the First Amendment, you would have a right to your own personal nuclear weapon. That’s how extreme it is, and I would add in fact the First Amendment does protect virtual child pornography. It certainly protects writing about child pornography, and for her to say, ‘Well don’t worry, we’re not banning these other guns,’ well OK, how about we just ban The New York Times because we still have The Daily News and The New York Post.”

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Assault Weapons Ban Clears First Senate Hurdle, But Its Future Faces Tough Odds

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Photo Credit: CBS

A bill banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips has cleared the first hurdle toward congressional passage, gaining approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee even while its broader future is unclear.

The bill, a key component of the Obama administration’s comprehensive legislative and executive package aimed at reducing gun violence in America, passed through the committee despite a heated exchange between Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex. It now heads to the full Senate for debate and, potentially, a vote. If successful there, the legislation will make its way to the House of Representatives.

It’s unlikely Democrats will be able to secure a vote in the Senate, however, given the 60-vote threshold needed to prevent a filibuster. The assault weapons ban is controversial even among some Democrats, and no Senate Republicans have expressed any intent to support it.

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Dianne Feinstein, Ted Cruz Trade Barbs Over Gun Ban (+video)

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Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a hugely controversial ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, but the measure faces nearly certain defeat on the Senate floor.

The proposal, authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), bans 157 different models of assault weapons, as well as magazines containing more than 10 bullets. The vote was 10 to 8, with all Democrats supporting it and all Republicans opposed.

The Senate now faces a floor fight in coming weeks over Democrats’ push to dramatically alter U.S. gun laws for the first time in two decades. While the Feinstein assault weapons ban is unlikely to overcome GOP opposition and get a vote — as well as concerns from red state Democrats up for reelection in 2014 — Democrats and the White House will continue their drive to enact universal background checks on all gun sales.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, acknowledged that the assault weapons ban will have a hard time overcoming opposition.

“It’s pretty clear the other side is locked in opposition [to assault weapons ban.] — [I] don’t see us getting 60 votes,” Whitehouse said, referring to the necessary bar to pass the Senate.

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