GOP set to OK most pro-gun platform ever

[SecularMotion]

TAMPA, Fla. - Delegates to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday will approve the most pro-gun platform ever, staking out support for national concealed carry reciprocity and opposing domestic restrictions on ammunition and United Nations interference in gun sales.

"It's probably the most supportive and detailed on Second Amendment issues ever," said a gun-rights advocate who attended the GOP platform committee meetings last week.

Besides giving the National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment groups victories on their issues, the platform is also a slap at several Obama initiatives, including the Fast & Furious scandal, his administration's consideration of a ban on high-capacity bullet magazines and talk of reviving the assault weapons ban and negotiations in the United Nations over a treaty to regulate small arms sales.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/gop-set-to-ok-most-pro-gun-platform-ever/article/2506043#.UDzMhKN2e1s

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I'm not gonna be satisfied until they put in a plank

repealing the ban on private ownership of howitzers.

[GreenStormCloud]

2. You can own howitzers.

Here is a guy who does: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000829&slug=4039410

There are others but I don't feel like doing the needed googling.

[gejohnston]

3. there isn't one

You would need a shit load of money. It has to be registered as a destructive device and jump through the standard NFA hoops to buy it. To fire it, you have to figure out how to get ammo, hire a forward observer, fire direction control team and associated computers, someone who knows how to use artillery transit, and know how to operate the pantel. Or you can buy a inoperable one for about 20 grand for lawn art.

[rl6214]

4. The DNC would do well to put something similar into their platform

I would imagine the Republicans heads would explode and we would get a whole bunch of Reps come over to the Dem side for good.

That was your point, right?

[trouble.smith]

5. potentially game changing.

[holdencaufield]

6. How so?

[trouble.smith]

7. it's a lot of red meat that shores up a significat portion of Mitt Romney's conservative deficit.

namely, his historical weakness on second amendment rights.

[holdencaufield]

8. I would submit ...

... it is my own opinion that anyone who is a single-issue 2A/RKBA voter probably wasn't considering Obama as their choice of candidate to begin with.

(Note: I just LOVE using the abbreviations 2A and RKBA)

[Missycim]

19. Yes I like

using RKBA too

[aikoaiko]

21. True for single issue voters but there are many on the fence for various reasons.

For those people, the presidential election is a close call.

I strong statement like "No new Federal gun bans" or, better yet, "No Federal gun bans at all" could mean the difference between 2 - 4% in any given state.

[Reasonable_Argument]

9. I wish the democrats would adopt a pro gun platform

It would take a lot of steam out of the GOP and I get tired of having to choose between gun rights and things like healthcare.

[Atypical Liberal]

10. Imagine how much air would be let out of the GOP balloon if the Democrats did the same thing.

The second amendment could be absolutely destroyed as a campaign issue overnight.

[4th law of robotics]

11. I look forward to the day when both parties agree on certain issues

thus making them no longer issues at all but rather the obsessions of a handful of fringe minorities.

The 2nd amendment is one. Abortion is another.

Then we can talk about important things like how to get the economy rolling and how to do the best for the most people.

[DWC]

27. Amen to that !!! n/t

[spin]

12. It's obvious that the Democratic Party has little interest in passing strong gun control laws ...

at this time. President Obama has actually been pro-gun rights and has received an "F" rating from the Brady Campaign.

I can see some value in having a pro-gun platform for the Democratic Party but the chances of this happening are slim to none. Far too many liberals favor draconian gun laws and would oppose any effort to actually support civilian gun rights.

However if our party was to affirm that we no longer had any interest in implementing another assault weapons ban or to require all firearms to be registered, we might actually make some real progress in improvising existing laws and consequently reducing gun violence in our nation.

There is absolutely no doubt that "Fast and Furious" was a FUBAR program and a scandal. It is possible that many gun owners would have little problem with a ban larger than the current magazines sold with "assault weapon."

I admit that I haven't done enough research on the United Nations treaty to regulate small arms sales to express an intelligent view. If it involves the registration of all civilian firearms in our nation I would definitely oppose it. In my opinion the UN is a dysfunctional organization at the best and I don't want them to impose any form of gun control on the citizens in our nation. My support for the treaty largely depends on the scope of what it involves.

On the other hand I have absolutely no problems with requiring all sales of firearms including private sales to have an NICS background check. I also favor much stronger penalties for those who straw purchase firearms or are involved in smuggling them to other nations or to the streets of cities in our nation.

[Spryguy]

13. I'm one of those progressives...

sorry, but if the Democratic Party ever abandoned their progressive principles in hopes of scooping up some toters, I'd have to jump ship to the Greens or something. The gun violence in America is astounding, and we should be looking to further restrict civilian gun ownership, not expand it.

[gejohnston]

14. All due respect but

some of the toters are already here and always have been. Restricting gun ownership won't solve our violence problem, it certainly hasn't anywhere else be it Canada, which already had a low murder rate, or Brazil and Jamaica that have very strict laws if not bans but make us look like Japan. Gun control is, quite frankly, a distraction from the real issues that solves no problems and pisses people off.

[DanTex]

25. LOL. Brazil and Jamaica! NRA talking points, right on cue!

[gejohnston]

26. Japan and Australia! Brady talking points right on cue!

One is totally different and the other was not affected.

[derby378]

28. Hey, be careful out there...

Some yahoo on GD suggested banning anyone from DU if they repeat an "NRA talking point." Who decides if it's an NRA talking point? Darned if I know!

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. Welcome

and all that stuff gejohnston said.

[DanTex]

24. Welcome to DU.

You are absolutely right. I'm also sick of the Democratic party moving to the right. We need to get our rates of homicide an gun violence down in line with the rest of the industrialized world.

[Union Scribe]

16. That is quite the wingnut website you're posting. nt

[gejohnston]

17. holy shit, where is the source police?

When Anschutz started the Examiner in its current format, he envisioned creating a conservative competitor to The Washington Post. According to Politico, "When it came to the editorial page, Anschutz’s instructions were explicit — he 'wanted nothing but conservative columns and conservative op-ed writers,' said one former employee." The Examiner's conservative writers include Byron York (National Review), Michael Barone (American Enterprise Institute, Fox News), and David Freddoso (National Review, author of The Case Against Barack Obama). [10]
The paper endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election[11] and Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary for mayor in 2010.[12] On December 14, 2011, it endorsed Mitt Romney for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, saying he was the only Republican who could beat Barack Obama in the general election.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Examiner

[Missycim]

20. Gun grabbers on this site

don't mind using conservative websites as long as it serves their purpose.

[holdencaufield]

22. There are anti-gun people ...

... in this group who don't mind quoting convicted serial killers as long as it serves their purpose.

[Doug.Goodall]

18. Republicans refuse to address the root causes of problems

The Republicans ignore the reasons people kill each other. The unfair distribution of wealth and resources in this country leads to poverty. The rich Republicans don't give a care about the poor, and when people resort to crime and drugs, the Republicans are more than happy to promote guns as the solution. They seem to just want to kill people, and get them out of the way.

[holdencaufield]

23. To quote a well-known businessman ...

``If they would rather die,'' said Scrooge, ``they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.