Lautenberg Criticizes Obama on Guns

[RamboLiberal]

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, has written a letter to President Obama rebuking him for not pressing Congress to create some restrictions on guns and gun ownership.

Mr. Lautenberg has filed three amendments on gun issues. One seeks to reinstate a ban on high-capacity gun magazines; another would close the so-called gun show loophole, which permits some people who buy guns at gun shows to avoid background checks otherwise required by federal law; the last would close gaps in the law that prevent the government from stopping suspected terrorists from buying firearms or explosives.

“Your administration has yet to join us on these proposals and has not shown the leadership to combat gun violence,” the senator’s letter says.

Mr. Lautenberg cites a video featuring Adam Gadahn, an American-born member of Al Qaeda, urging terrorists to carry out attacks. In the video, Mr. Gadahn says: “America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely, without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/lautenberg-criticizes-obama-on-guns/

Lautenberg do you really want to lose the WH in 2012????

[TheWraith]

1. Lautenberg is a damned fool and a police-state advocate.

Loves the Bush terror watch list, loves constant surveillance, and doesn't know the first damned thing about what he's talking about. Whatever the nonsensical "threat" pushing more infringement of civil liberties, you can bet he'll be the Democrat to sign on.

[CelticThunder]

2. Good for Lautenberg. But this is just one more issue where President Obama won't show leadership.

[gejohnston]

7. anyone that takes their legal advice from Al Qaida instead of

making a phone call to agencies or walking down to the nearest law library, has no business in congress.

[slackmaster]

3. Lautenberg cited the video of the lying terrorist sack of shit telling lies?

Amazing.

[Katya Mullethov]

5. A long sitting US Senator has no more UNDERSTANDING

Of the laws of his own country .....than a foreign born militant .
Or , he is simply pandering to his constituency in the manner they are accustomed and at their level .

[Endangered Specie]

4. Fully auto assault rifles with no background check at a gun show?

Guess this means gun grabbers have the same understanding of U.S. firearms laws as Al-Qaeda.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. Dear New Jersey,

Do us a favor and get rid of this man.

Thanks.

signed,

the rest of the nation.

[badtoworse]

14. My apologies. He has embarrassed the state many times on RKBA issues

[GreenStormCloud]

9. Over half of the House and almost half the Senate has NRA "A" rating.

And Lautenber wants Obama to spend political capital trying to get congress to pass more gun control? And useless wrong-head gun control at that?

[aikoaiko]

10. People who understand the issues at hand don't say stupid things as Sen. Lautenberg has said.

[DanTex]

11. Good for Lautenberg for showing some political courage

Sorry, I don't agree with those who just want to roll over and give in to the GOP/NRA on issue after issue just because there's resistance from an organized right-wing lobby.

The common-sense policies that Lautenberg proposes are actually very popular with the general public.
- ban on high capacity magazines (65-70% in favor)
- require background checks at gun shows (I've seen 80-85%)
- no guns for the terrorist watch list (don't have numbers, but I would imagine this is pretty high too)

The situation here is somewhat like the public option, which also polled around 65-70% favorable. The "prudent" move was to give up, move to the center. But with a little bit of political courage, it could have been a big win, both politically for the Dems, and for the good of the nation.

Here it's a similar situation. The GOP/NRA is out of touch with 65-80 percent of voters on these issues, so we could not only make America safer, but also make the GOP/NRA look like the right-wing extremists that they are. We need to stop letting an organized and well funded right-wing minority dominate over the will of the people.

[gejohnston]

13. has no credibility

parroting the AQ idiot that you can walk out of Wal Mart or a gun show with a machine gun shows that he is either dishonest, lazy to look up the laws, or just plain stupid. Any three makes him unqualified to be in congress. The fact that Rachel and Thom repeated the same thing, knowing better tells me that they put ideology above honesty.
That is a blow to your movement. Anyone who knows anything about the issue knows that a fully automatic weapon is a machine gun, and you can not get one legally without a background check if at all. That is in the video, you can't weasel out of that.

If you watched Rachel or listened to Thom Hartmann, you have been told that the terrorist watch list has no terrorist suspects on it. We have heard that for the past eight years. That shows their intellectual dishonesty on the issue. It is in the archives, you can not weasel out of that either.

How is it for the good of the nation if it requires so much dishonesty? Mostly because like the Women's Temperance Moment and Reefer Madness movies, your entire movement is built on dishonesty.

[friendly_iconoclast]

15. Were you against the "terrorist watch list" before you were for it?

Or have you been opposed to that annoying "due process" thing all along?

I've yet to get an answer from anybody who currently supports it.

Anyway, this cartoonist illustrates Lautenberg's (and yours too, frankly) position rather nicely:

[ileus]

12. Lberg is wrong on all three, maybe Obama knows it, maybe not.

He may just be playing along until he's reelected or maybe he knows all three are dumb as hell plans.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. HAhaha Lautenberg fell for a CIA plant reading off Brady Bunch talking points.

What a maroon.