Reid, other Dems take a stand for gun rights
Posted by: "rightdemocrat" rightdemocrat@aol.com rightdemocrat
Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:39 pm (PST)
From CQ Politics
Democrats Divided Over Gun Amendment in D.C. House Voting Rights Bill
By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid 's decision to join nearly two
dozen Democrats in supporting a Republican gun amendment could
foretell difficulties for the Obama administration if the White House
pushes for stricter firearms limits.
Twenty-two Democrats ? most of them from Western or conservative-
leaning states ? voted Thursday in favor of an amendment by Nevada
Republican John Ensign that would codify a 2008 Supreme Court ruling
that struck down a District of Columbia gun ownership ban and
declared for the first time that the Second Amendment includes an
individual right to bear arms. The amendment, which Ensign offered to
legislation (S 160) that would grant D.C. residents full voting
rights in the House, was adopted 62-36.
"People are afraid," Ensign said after the vote, when asked to
explain Democratic support for his amendment. "From a purist
standpoint, I hope that they now just see more of the importance of
the Constitution. But from a cynical standpoint I guess you could say
that they're just making sure that they're not voting against what
they think voters in their states would respond to."
Ensign's amendment would repeal the District's ban on semiautomatic
weapons, bar the city's registration requirements for most guns and
drop criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.
The first gun-related Senate vote of the 111th Congress underscores a
schism within the Democratic Party. While senators from more densely
populated, urban states in the Northeast and the West Coast are
committed to tightening gun restrictions now that Democrats control
Congress and the White House, senators from more rural and
conservative states in the Midwest and West are prepared to block
such efforts.
"Any gun vote is difficult for Westerners ? Democrat Westerners,"
said Sen. John Thune , R-S.D.
Thursday's vote came one day after Attorney General Eric H. Holder
Jr. said the Obama administration would work to reinstate the
nationwide assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.
Reid, who is facing a potentially tough re-election bid in 2010, was
endorsed in 2004 by the National Rifle Association and has opposed a
ban on assault weapons.
"The Second Amendment's pretty important," said Montana Democrat Jon
Tester , who voted for Ensign's proposal.
Tester, who added that he would oppose any attempt to reinstitute an
assault weapons ban, said Democratic leaders did not pressure him to
vote one way or another on the amendment. "Not a word," he said. "I
think everybody in Congress knows where I am on this issue. It's not
a secret. So there was no pressure. No pressure either way."
Last-Minute Decisions
Reid and several other Western Democrats who ultimately supported the
amendment had not decided Thursday afternoon how they would vote. As
he walked onto the Senate floor for the vote, freshman Colorado
Democrat Michael Bennet still had not made up his mind.
"I'm going to talk to my colleagues about it," said Bennet, who was
appointed earlier this year to replace fellow Democrat Ken Salazar ,
now Obama's Interior secretary. Bennet, who has never before held
elected office, would face election in 2010.
Two other freshman Democrats ? Colorado's Mark Udall and New Mexico's
Tom Udall ? also were undecided shortly before the vote. Like Reid
and Bennet, they supported the amendment in the end.
More-liberal Democrats, such as Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of
Illinois, vehemently opposed the measure, which Durbin described
as "one of the most extreme pieces of legislation on the issue of
guns" that he'd seen. Durbin said Ensign's amendment would prohibit
D.C. officials from "saying to a person who is visually impaired and
a chronic alcoholic who has voluntarily committed himself to a mental
institution and who is under the age of 12 from owning a gun. . . .
That strikes me as over the edge."
Another outspoken critic of the amendment ? California Democrat
Dianne Feinstein ? announced late Thursday that she plans to
introduce legislation reinstating the federal assault weapons ban.
Thursday's vote also was a tricky one for New York Democrat Kirsten
Gillibrand , whose opposition to measures designed to curtail gun
owners' rights has led to talk of a primary challenge in 2010. But
Gillibrand opposed the Ensign amendment, which she said was "far too
broad," adding it would threaten "some of the common-sense
regulations and laws that actually can crack down on the criminals
getting access to the weapons."
Gillibrand played down the idea that her vote was politically
motivated or that it might put her at odds with Upstate New York
voters.
"No one in Upstate New York wants criminals to have guns," she
said. "I feel very strongly that I'm going to fight against gun
violence in our communities and keep guns out of the hands of
criminals, and I'm also going to protect the Second Amendment. I
think those two views are not mutually exclusive. I think you can
absolutely do both."
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of
Texas said Democrats were smart to recruit candidates whose views on
gun issues reflected those of their constituents.
"Democrats have done a pretty good job. . . . I think Republicans
could learn a little bit of something from the way they've picked
their candidates that fit those states but may not fit the
ideological agenda here in Washington," Cornyn said.
Ensign acknowledged that his amendment likely would be dropped if the
bill goes to conference with the House but said he would pressure
Democrats to retain it.
"We're going to try to put enough pressure from the outside to make
sure they don't drop it," he said. "But I think, yes, the odds of
them dropping it are pretty high."
Posted by: "rightdemocrat" rightdemocrat@aol.com rightdemocrat
Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:39 pm (PST)
From CQ Politics
Democrats Divided Over Gun Amendment in D.C. House Voting Rights Bill
By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid 's decision to join nearly two
dozen Democrats in supporting a Republican gun amendment could
foretell difficulties for the Obama administration if the White House
pushes for stricter firearms limits.
Twenty-two Democrats ? most of them from Western or conservative-
leaning states ? voted Thursday in favor of an amendment by Nevada
Republican John Ensign that would codify a 2008 Supreme Court ruling
that struck down a District of Columbia gun ownership ban and
declared for the first time that the Second Amendment includes an
individual right to bear arms. The amendment, which Ensign offered to
legislation (S 160) that would grant D.C. residents full voting
rights in the House, was adopted 62-36.
"People are afraid," Ensign said after the vote, when asked to
explain Democratic support for his amendment. "From a purist
standpoint, I hope that they now just see more of the importance of
the Constitution. But from a cynical standpoint I guess you could say
that they're just making sure that they're not voting against what
they think voters in their states would respond to."
Ensign's amendment would repeal the District's ban on semiautomatic
weapons, bar the city's registration requirements for most guns and
drop criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.
The first gun-related Senate vote of the 111th Congress underscores a
schism within the Democratic Party. While senators from more densely
populated, urban states in the Northeast and the West Coast are
committed to tightening gun restrictions now that Democrats control
Congress and the White House, senators from more rural and
conservative states in the Midwest and West are prepared to block
such efforts.
"Any gun vote is difficult for Westerners ? Democrat Westerners,"
said Sen. John Thune , R-S.D.
Thursday's vote came one day after Attorney General Eric H. Holder
Jr. said the Obama administration would work to reinstate the
nationwide assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.
Reid, who is facing a potentially tough re-election bid in 2010, was
endorsed in 2004 by the National Rifle Association and has opposed a
ban on assault weapons.
"The Second Amendment's pretty important," said Montana Democrat Jon
Tester , who voted for Ensign's proposal.
Tester, who added that he would oppose any attempt to reinstitute an
assault weapons ban, said Democratic leaders did not pressure him to
vote one way or another on the amendment. "Not a word," he said. "I
think everybody in Congress knows where I am on this issue. It's not
a secret. So there was no pressure. No pressure either way."
Last-Minute Decisions
Reid and several other Western Democrats who ultimately supported the
amendment had not decided Thursday afternoon how they would vote. As
he walked onto the Senate floor for the vote, freshman Colorado
Democrat Michael Bennet still had not made up his mind.
"I'm going to talk to my colleagues about it," said Bennet, who was
appointed earlier this year to replace fellow Democrat Ken Salazar ,
now Obama's Interior secretary. Bennet, who has never before held
elected office, would face election in 2010.
Two other freshman Democrats ? Colorado's Mark Udall and New Mexico's
Tom Udall ? also were undecided shortly before the vote. Like Reid
and Bennet, they supported the amendment in the end.
More-liberal Democrats, such as Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of
Illinois, vehemently opposed the measure, which Durbin described
as "one of the most extreme pieces of legislation on the issue of
guns" that he'd seen. Durbin said Ensign's amendment would prohibit
D.C. officials from "saying to a person who is visually impaired and
a chronic alcoholic who has voluntarily committed himself to a mental
institution and who is under the age of 12 from owning a gun. . . .
That strikes me as over the edge."
Another outspoken critic of the amendment ? California Democrat
Dianne Feinstein ? announced late Thursday that she plans to
introduce legislation reinstating the federal assault weapons ban.
Thursday's vote also was a tricky one for New York Democrat Kirsten
Gillibrand , whose opposition to measures designed to curtail gun
owners' rights has led to talk of a primary challenge in 2010. But
Gillibrand opposed the Ensign amendment, which she said was "far too
broad," adding it would threaten "some of the common-sense
regulations and laws that actually can crack down on the criminals
getting access to the weapons."
Gillibrand played down the idea that her vote was politically
motivated or that it might put her at odds with Upstate New York
voters.
"No one in Upstate New York wants criminals to have guns," she
said. "I feel very strongly that I'm going to fight against gun
violence in our communities and keep guns out of the hands of
criminals, and I'm also going to protect the Second Amendment. I
think those two views are not mutually exclusive. I think you can
absolutely do both."
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of
Texas said Democrats were smart to recruit candidates whose views on
gun issues reflected those of their constituents.
"Democrats have done a pretty good job. . . . I think Republicans
could learn a little bit of something from the way they've picked
their candidates that fit those states but may not fit the
ideological agenda here in Washington," Cornyn said.
Ensign acknowledged that his amendment likely would be dropped if the
bill goes to conference with the House but said he would pressure
Democrats to retain it.
"We're going to try to put enough pressure from the outside to make
sure they don't drop it," he said. "But I think, yes, the odds of
them dropping it are pretty high."
