Democratic senators facing galvanized gun owners at home
If there is a path to new gun laws, it has to come through West Virginia and a dozen other states with Democratic senators like Mr. Manchin who are confronting galvanized constituencies that view any effort to tighten gun laws as an infringement.
As Congress considers what, if any, laws to change, Mr. Manchin has become a barometer among his colleagues, testing just how far they might be able to go without angering voters.
On Thursday a group of Democratic senators led by Dianne Feinstein of California plans to introduce a bill that would outlaw more than 100 different assault weapons, setting up what promises to be a fraught and divisive debate over gun control in Congress in the coming weeks. But a number of centrist lawmakers like Mr. Manchin have already thrown the measure’s fate into question, saying that all they are willing to support for now is a stronger background check system. …
But now, Mr. Manchin, who affirmed his support for gun rights by running a campaign commercial in 2010 showing him firing a rifle into an environmental bill, says he is not so sure. One of his local offices has been picketed, and even some of his most thoughtful supporters are cautioning him that stronger background checks are about all the gun control they can stomach.
Blowback
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Like I said earlier today, every last one of them dreams of how they can be Bart Stupak and get away with it.
Dusty on January 24, 2013 at 12:35 AM
Depends what they mean by “stronger background checks”.
mythicknight on January 24, 2013 at 12:39 AM
Ummmm… Here’s a little news flash for you – That horse left the barn quite a while back. Right now, it’s how far can they go without igniting open rebellion. You know, pitchforks, torches, tar, feathers, etc…
Harbingeing on January 24, 2013 at 12:52 AM
I didn’t even know you could galvanize a gun. Live and learn I guess.
29Victor on January 24, 2013 at 1:07 AM
They play the long game. After 2014 they’ll steam roll it through if Pelosi gets the gavel back.
Red Creek on January 24, 2013 at 2:41 AM
So much for conservatives doing what was needed BEFORE the elections:
:Tina Fey IS Sarah Palin according to the liberal sheeple, but in fact Fey is another disheartened lib who refuses to sleep in the bed she pissed on.
Fey is never right while Palin is right all of the time, especially about the 0bama Death Panels that NO ONE wants to be a part of. I guess they don’t like the Grim Reaper garb the Democrats are so enthused about supplying.
“Clearly, there is no shortage of hypocrisy coming out of Washington, and this [debate of taking guns from the law abiding Americans while ignoring the criminals] is just one example. Americans can expect to be inundated with rhetoric and doublespeak for the duration of this administration. It is truly Orwellian. So it is absolutely imperative that we keep our eyes and ears open; don’t allow yourselves to be sucked in or lulled to sleep. Our freedoms are being compromised, our common sense insulted, and our children exploited. We must be vigilant and engaged, and we must remain hopeful that a better day is coming.
Spot on, Sarah! We must be EVER vigilant and engaged!
DannoJyd on January 24, 2013 at 4:26 AM
They are close to provoking worse than that. And with Obama’s constant, unnecessary, finger poking your face provocative style that he’s doubling down on, I think it’s deliberate. This Regime has already run one false-flag operation that we know of (fast and furious) aimed at disarming the People, so it’s not unreasonable to suspect more is coming.
Inciting open rebellion against an unlawful government might be Obama’s path to dictatorship.
wildcat72 on January 24, 2013 at 6:38 AM
I agree and have been saying so since 2008.
Dr. Frank Enstine on January 24, 2013 at 7:13 AM
Complete ‘Failure to Cooperate’ might be the smartest response. So hard to send troops to it in the video age.
This is the left’s version of McCarthyism. They’re bullies. They will come to the same end.
One day, somebody will, at just the right time and place, ask if they have no decency.
Troops may be the background for that scene.
We have to be careful and smart.
trigon on January 24, 2013 at 7:21 AM
Prior to November I would have laughed at anyone who said Pelosi would ever be Cruella of the House again. I also didn’t believe Obama had any shot to be re-elected.
Not anymore. Not with the moocher/looter crowd being an electoral majority and only gaining numbers as this economy fails to improve (which is why Obama stands in the door blocking economic growth).
However, this gun grab attempt by Obama is a serious overreach that will provoke a reaction, hopefully on the scale of the 2010 midterms. This is why he’s re-started his campaign apparatus…
wildcat72 on January 24, 2013 at 7:37 AM
I don’t think dictatorship can ever completely succeed in the United States. States would 5eccede. (and isn’t it lame you have to disguise that word here?!). This country is just simply too huge for an army (any army) to completely pacify against an unwilling people, and as we know, a significant part of our military wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
We’re not one of those pissiant tiny Eurocountries.
wildcat72 on January 24, 2013 at 7:40 AM
As needlessly provocative as Obama is being right now one almost suspects he’s trying to achieve it PRIOR to the 2014 midterms…
There really is no reason for Obama to act like he is right now otherwise.
This guy comes from authoritarian stock. His influences, his education, hell, his family supports dictators in Kenya.
wildcat72 on January 24, 2013 at 7:43 AM
He lost the very next election after being in office for years and years. He lost to a tea party candidate who never ran for public office before 2010 and was comfortably re-elected in 2012. What had been a safe Dem seat has now probably going to stay GOP for years. The guy who won this seat was an active physician who ran against obamacare.
karenhasfreedom on January 24, 2013 at 7:46 AM
I think Manchin’s wobbliness on this is going to get Shelly Moore Capito elected to the other Senate seat.
Nothing pisses off West Virginians more than anti-gun politics. He could have gone almost anywhere but there without opening people’s eyes.
wildcat72 on January 24, 2013 at 7:50 AM
But, but, but, they said a majority of gun owners were in agreement for tighter restrictions.
Molon Labe
trs on January 24, 2013 at 7:51 AM
I want more “government control”. Such as banning certain “gangs of” in the Senate, mandatory background checks on Presidents and Congressmen, and waiting periods before passing 1,000 page bills into law.
wildcat72 on January 24, 2013 at 7:57 AM
A dictatorship can succeed anywhere when people are unwilling to resist it. Russia and China are huge and, especially in Russia’s case, it mattered not whether the military went along with it or not. What matters is if the people cower along.
But I agree with you on the probable eventual Balkanization of these United States…
Ace ODale on January 24, 2013 at 8:31 AM
..naw, mate. You can Parkerize them or blue them but dipping them in molten zinc screws with the action.
The War Planner on January 24, 2013 at 8:36 AM
..nor tutu-wearing Aussies or Brits, neither.
The War Planner on January 24, 2013 at 8:39 AM
Look out, boys. Your overreach on spending got you the Tea Party. If you overreach on guns, what do you think you’ll get?
Odysseus on January 24, 2013 at 9:52 AM