House Democrat: "No possibility of new gun control"

[LittleRedToyota]

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/200...-new-gun-laws/

Minnick expects no new gun laws
‘Blue dog’ Democrats don’t support further controls
Associated Press
The Spokesman-Review

LEWISTON – Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick says gun owners don’t need to worry about their gun rights being eroded in the current U.S. Congress.

“There is no possibility there is going to be any gun control in this Congress,” Minnick told the Lewiston Tribune.

Minnick said he’s one of 52 conservative “blue dog” Democrats in the House who oppose further gun control.

“Nothing can pass in the House without some blue dog support,” he said. “The support (for Second Amendment rights) goes far beyond the blue dogs. It’s not just fiscally conservative Democrats. I would warrant it’s a solid majority of the caucus.”

Shooting enthusiasts say fears that the Obama administration might push gun control legislation has boosted gun sales and is driving gun owners to stockpile ammunition.

But Minnick said there are more pressing issues facing Congress than gun control.

“I think it would divert the Congress away from real problems,” he said. “We have so many of them and of such severity, I think it would be shortchanging the nation to spend a week or two on a topic that divisive. It’s like fiddling when Rome is burning. We have real problems – energy, health care, immigration. We still have problems of national security, a war-and-a-half we are fighting. We don’t have the luxury to spend time on issues like this. I think it’s just a non-issue.”

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said not only is support for gun rights strong in both parties, but he sees a good chance of laws expanding gun rights.

He and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., are working on a bill to allow people to carry loaded concealed weapons in national parks.

In March, a federal judge blocked a federal rule allowing people to carry concealed, loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. The decision halted a change in regulations issued in the waning days of the Bush administration and ordered further review.

The Bush rule, which took effect in January, allowed visitors to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge as long as the person had a permit for a concealed weapon and the state where the park or refuge was located allowed concealed firearms. Previously, guns in parks had been severely restricted.

The Obama administration last month said it would not appeal the court’s decision. Instead, the Interior Department said it would conduct a full environmental review of an earlier policy that allowed concealed, loaded guns in parks and refuges.

Crapo, despite his belief that support for guns rights is strong among lawmakers, said he’s concerned some form of gun control measure could be introduced.

“The potential for a renewed effort in Congress supported by the administration, in my opinion, is a real threat, a real possibility,” Crapo said.

While it’s unlikely any measures to require gun owners to register their firearms could be passed, he said, there is a chance more moderate laws could be considered, such as closing the gun show loophole that allows people to buy firearms without a criminal or mental health background check.

Minnick doesn’t see the gun control issue breaking along party lines.

“If there is an ideological dividing line, it is central city and urban versus suburban and rural,” he said. “That is the dividing line – it isn’t party.”

please, people, stop all the panic buying...

pretty please.

[adymond]

Please forgive me if I don't trust the shit coming out of the mouth of any of these assholes in DC.

While I hope this is accurate and that there is no possibility of more gun control I know that is 100% false. There is always a possibility. There may be a miniscule probability. I would be more comforted if they spoke more accurately and didn't insist something was not possible, when absolutes are so rare.

Could what you are calling panic buying be something else? I started my collection in 2004 with a few pistols. I have recently bought three rifles, two shotguns, and a pistol and will be ordering an M1 Garand shortly, and am also looking for a 10/22. I'm not doing this out of panic, but rather because I have more disposable income and with so many other factors at play I don't want to run the risk that I will be out of a job and not have the means to secure the firearms that I feel would help to sustain me through tough times either through hunting or selling to collectors.

Sure I buy the ammo I can find when I can find it in the ammounts available or that I can afford, so that might be closer to panic buying, but I am thinking the "run" on firearms may be that people were spurred to panic buy, but now they are enjoying building the collection out to where they want it.

[LittleRedToyota]

Please forgive me if I don't trust the shit coming out of the mouth of any of these assholes in DC.

i hear ya, but, in this case, an objective analysis of the situation leads one to this same conclusion...which i and a few others have been saying all along.

there is not going to be an AWB. there is not going to be a 500% tax on ammo. it is just not going to happen.

in the meantime, we have imposed worse than a 500% tax on ammo on ourselves...and imposed a partial AWB on ourselves.

There is always a possibility. There may be a miniscule probability. I would be more comforted if they spoke more accurately and didn't insist something was not possible, when absolutes are so rare.

i hear ya again. but that is just the way humans communicate with each other.

futher, focusing on outcomes with miniscule probabilities is generally not a rational decision making process.

Could what you are calling panic buying be something else?

i'm not saying you in particular are panic buying.

but, the run on the market...both for guns and for ammo...was born of and has been sustained from everyone running around screaming "an AWB is coming! an AWB is coming!" and "a huge ammo tax is coming! a huge ammo tax is coming!"

neither are coming.

do what you want, but you will get much better prices on whatever it is you want to buy if you wait a little while.

how long you have to wait depends on how long people keep screaming about the sky falling when it clearly is not falling.

i'm just frustrated about not being able to shoot as much as i had planned to this summer without dwindling my stockpile of ammo down to nothing. the main reason i am so frustrated is that we have inflicted this situation on ourselves...it is 100% our doing. and we have the power to make it stop...but we have too many people (including the GOA and NRA) out there feeding irrational fears of gun control that isn't coming and keeping the market in a state of complete irrationality.

[Anachron]

I could not agree more. Not to say we should not remain always vigilant in defense of our rights, but the panic buying is out of control!!! It's worse then before Y2K.
All the anti-gun politicos know it's a no win issue to go after guns. Unless you are a lifetime incumbent like Mayor Richard Daley in Chicago.

[RaisedByWolves]

As bad as the economy is, their not going to make a move right now. They would just shut down another industry and the only one that is doing good at that.

[SauerGrapes]

As bad as the economy is, their not going to make a move right now. They would just shut down another industry and the only one that is doing good at that.

The real extreme whack jobs could care less if the firearms industry went away. All they see is evil guns! Just like the tree huggers would love to see everyone on mass transit or a bicycle. We are destroying the earth!!
Your thought process is logical to logical people though.
We must still stay focused on the ball, even if we are ahead.

[tes151]

Some panic buyer is going to be really pissed when I wait 6 or 8 months to buy an AR-15, and pay quite a bit less than they did.

[imperialism2024]

C'mon, it's just a conspiracy. These pillars of evil incarnate who call themselves "blue dog" Demoncrats, are the worst of all of them, because they're being so secretive about stealing our guns. We all know that they're not True Conservatives©, and only True Conservatives© won't take our guns.

Ok, now that I've had a good laugh... good article LRT, though I doubt most of the gun-owning sheep are going to stop running around yelling that the sky's falling. Fear is a powerful force, and almost immune to logic.

[NineseveN]

I'm disappointed, no one came in here to say "fuck you" to all of us 'Nobma supporters' and closet liberals yet.

[CcDesign]

I don't believe him....not one bit. If 'they' don't do it, they will do it via a backdoor such as an international treaty. This administration is a bunch of liars, tax cheats and snakes in the grass. I wouldn't trust them to walk my dog never the less with my freedom.