Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Obama Calls For Government Action On Guns In The Wake Of Colorado Shooting [View all]virginia mountainman
(5,046 posts)49. A warning from the 1990's when Gun Rights groups where MUCH WEAKER....
Excerpts from "My Life" by Bill Clinton:
"Just before the House vote (on the crime bill), Speaker Tom Foley and majority leader Dick Gephardt had made a last-ditch appeal to me to remove the assault weapons ban from the bill. They argued that many Democrats who represented closely divided districts had already...defied the NRA once on the Brady bill vote. They said that if we made them walk the plank again on the assault weapons ban, the overall bill might not pass, and that if it did, many Democrats who voted for it would not survive the election in November. Jack Brooks, the House Judiciary Committee chairman from Texas, told me the same thing...Jack was convinced that if we didn't drop the ban, the NRA would beat a lot of Democrats by terrifying gun owners....Foley, Gephardt, and Brooks were right and I was wrong. The price...would be heavy casualties among its defenders." (Pages 611-612)
"On November 8, we got the living daylights beat out of us, losing eight Senate races and fifty-four House seats, the largest defeat for our party since 1946....The NRA had a great night. They beat both Speaker Tom Foley and Jack Brooks, two of the ablest members of Congress, who had warned me this would happen. Foley was the first Speaker to be defeated in more than a century. Jack Brooks had supported the NRA for years and had led the fight against the assault weapons ban in the House, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he had voted for the overall crime bill even after the ban was put into it. The NRA was an unforgiving master: one strike and you're out. The gun lobby claimed to have defeated nineteen of the twenty-four members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage...." (Pages 629-630)
"One Saturday morning, I went to a diner in Manchester full of men who were deer hunters and NRA members. In impromptu remarks, I told them that I knew they had defeated their Democratic congressman, Dick Swett, in 1994 because he voted for the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban. Several of them nodded in agreement." (Page 699)
"On November 8, we got the living daylights beat out of us, losing eight Senate races and fifty-four House seats, the largest defeat for our party since 1946....The NRA had a great night. They beat both Speaker Tom Foley and Jack Brooks, two of the ablest members of Congress, who had warned me this would happen. Foley was the first Speaker to be defeated in more than a century. Jack Brooks had supported the NRA for years and had led the fight against the assault weapons ban in the House, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he had voted for the overall crime bill even after the ban was put into it. The NRA was an unforgiving master: one strike and you're out. The gun lobby claimed to have defeated nineteen of the twenty-four members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage...." (Pages 629-630)
"One Saturday morning, I went to a diner in Manchester full of men who were deer hunters and NRA members. In impromptu remarks, I told them that I knew they had defeated their Democratic congressman, Dick Swett, in 1994 because he voted for the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban. Several of them nodded in agreement." (Page 699)
I wonder what we will loose as a nation, with Romney in charge??
I wonder what will happen with Health Care reform??
I wonder what will happen with Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy???
O well, some really want gun control front and center, they better realize the potential liabilities of having it front and center, they better understand that in the congress, and in the senate, their is ALMOST a veto-proof majority of pro gun folks.
So talk it up, get people stirred up, after all Brady has about 28,000 members (mailing list subscribers)and the NRA ONLY has about 4.5 million dues paying members.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
131 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Obama Calls For Government Action On Guns In The Wake Of Colorado Shooting [View all]
onehandle
Jul 2012
OP
I wish you were right, but I have my doubts from the country that voted bush in twice, and voted
still_one
Jul 2012
#33
voting against feel good gun control or total gun bans is in many people's interest.
alabama_for_obama
Jul 2012
#41
Assult weapons are used to kill many people at once. That is their purpose. That some states do
still_one
Jul 2012
#43
That's exactly what's kept a lot of the NRA membership, and conservatives from embracing
AtheistCrusader
Jul 2012
#7
I don't think there are very many battle-ground swing voters whose single-issue platform are firearm
LanternWaste
Jul 2012
#115
you base this on your assumptions, but I wouldn't be so sure that you are correct.
alabama_for_obama
Jul 2012
#119
let Rmoney explain why everyone should have assault rifles & be able to buy 6000 rounds of ammo on
wordpix
Jul 2012
#104
It's a well-crafted speech, and from an RKBA perspective I have no objection to it
petronius
Jul 2012
#19
which would once against decimate any chance of us pushing a democratic agenda
alabama_for_obama
Jul 2012
#44
uh, probably more than you. but that is irrelevant and not the topic of discussion.
alabama_for_obama
Jul 2012
#93
well gee, I guess the pot vote will go to the repukes, and I know he had the gun vote wrapped up
still_one
Jul 2012
#36
anyone who know anything about rifles knows that the AK-47 is a much more durable weapon than the
still_one
Jul 2012
#38
Actually I think it is about time that people realize what the issues really are. Woman and civil
still_one
Jul 2012
#39
This is the same thing as Pelosi saying it would be ‘really important’ to take on med. marijuana...
Poll_Blind
Jul 2012
#40
I bought mine when it became clear that the state of California was going to pass it's own "AW" ban
slackmaster
Jul 2012
#67
A warning from the 1990's when Gun Rights groups where MUCH WEAKER....
virginia mountainman
Jul 2012
#49
What? I make two practical suggestions that few gun owners disagree with, and NOBODY responds?
slackmaster
Jul 2012
#72
You go ahead and keep believing that. It's unfortunate you don't grasp the President's nuance.
slackmaster
Jul 2012
#89