A Bump Stock in the road
Apologies in advance to those of you who are familiar with weapons.
There's a scene in the 1992 film "Under Siege" where Steven Seagal as Navy Seal Casey Ryback is explaining how the weapon that he just handed to Erika Eleniak as Playboy Centerfold Jordan Tate works:
I'm giving you this rifle with a selector switch on it. One is fully automatic, one is semiautomatic. The definition of semiautomatic is, when you depress the trigger... ...one round will go off. That's what I want to give you. Spend one round at a time.
This is an example of the bump stock we've heard so much about in the wake of the Las Vegas Massacre.
Stephen Paddock had modified a number of the weapons he had in the hotel room he used as a shooter's perch with bump stocks. What a bump stock does is to use the energy of the recoil from firing rounds to make a semi-automatic weapon fire like an automatic weapon. The shooter pulls the trigger and holds it, and as each round is fired, the recoil moves the bump stock back and forth to allow another to be fired. Because of the mechanics of how this device works, it makes it fairly difficult to fire accurately. As pointed out in an excellent article in the Los Angeles Times, this wasn't an issue due to the "Trigonometry of Terror."
* * *
The National Rifle Association is "open" to the idea of regulating the sale of bump stocks. Sounds like a change in attitude? Rest assured it is not. It is misdirection, a bit of sleight-of-hand. That is because they are pushing to get other legislation passed. One bill they want is the one making it easier for people to buy silencers. That got delayed after Congressman Steve Scalise got shot this past June during a Republican baseball practice.
The other bill they want to see passed is one involving permits to carry a concealed weapon (CCW). This bill would require all states to honor a CCW permit issued by another state.
It is tough to get a CCW permit in most California counties. California is tougher than most other states. The passage of this bill would keep states from enforcing their own policies regarding who gets the right to legally carry a concealed weapon.
Don't be fooled by this supposed change of heart by the NRA.
* * *
The New York Times published an article on the issue titled "Republicans Open to Banning "Bump Stocks" Used in Massacre." Here are a few quotes from that article:
“I own a lot of guns, and as a hunter and sportsman, I think that’s our right as Americans, but I don’t understand the use of this bump stock,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said, adding, “It seems like it’s an obvious area we ought to explore and see if it’s something Congress needs to act on.”
“We certainly want to learn more details on what occurred in Las Vegas,” Mr. Rubio said, “and if there are vulnerabilities in federal law that we should be addressing to prevent such attacks in the future, we would always be open to that.”
I find it interesting that Senators Cornyn and Rubio seems to be unaware of what bump stocks are, as they voted against a 2013 bill that would have banned "..all semiautomatic weapons that could accept a “military feature” like a detachable stock."
That bill failed on April 13, 2013, roughly four months after 20 children and six adults were murdered at Sandy Hook by Adam Lanza.
Four months after that horrific massacre, a bill to ban semiautomatic weapons failed in the U.S. Senate on a 60-40 vote. Senators Cornyn and Rubio voted NO. So claiming ignorance of bump stocks and other devices that can modify semi-automatic weapons to fire in automatic mode is dishonest. Unless of course they didn't bother to read the bill, or have their staffs brief them on it; and they just followed the instructions of the NRA lobbyists who gave money to their campaigns.
15 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting no on this piece of legislation. You should know who they are, so here are the NO voters. The people who weren't moved by the deaths of 26 innocents mere weeks earlier.
Lamar Alexander (R) - Tennessee (still a U.S. Senator)
Kelly Ayotte (R) - New Hampshire (no longer in the Senate)
John Barrasso (R) - Wyoming (still a U.S. Senator)
Max Baucus (D) - Montana (no longer in the Senate)
Mark Begich (D) - Alaska (no longer in the Senate)
Michael Bennett (D) - Colorado (still a U.S. Senator)
Roy Blunt (R) - Missouri (still a U.S. Senator)
John Boozman (R) - Arkansas (still a U.S. Senator)
Richard Burr (R) - North Carolina (still a U.S. Senator)
Saxby Chambliss (R) - Georgia (no longer in the Senate)
Dan Coats (R) - Indiana (no longer in the Senate, now Trumps Director of National Intelligence)
Tom Coburn (R) - Oklahoma (no longer in the Senate)
Thad Cochran (R) - Mississippi (still a U.S. Senator)
Susan Colling (R) - Maine (still a U.S. Senator)
Bob Corker (R) - Tennessee (still a U.S. Senator)
John Cornyn (R) - Texas (still a U.S. Senator)
Michael Crapo (R) - Idaho (still a U.S. Senator)
Ted Cruz (R) - Texas (still a U.S. Senator)
Joe Donnelly (D) - Indiana (still a U.S. Senator)
Michael Enzi - (R) - Wyoming (still a U.S. Senator)
Deb Fischer - (R) - Nebraska (still a U.S. Senator)
Jeff Flake - (R) - Arizona (still a U.S. Senator)
Lindsay Graham (R) - South Carolina (still a U.S. Senator)
Kay Hagan (D) - North Carolina (no longer in the Senate, now a lobbyist)
Orrin Hatch (R) - Utah (still a U.S. Senator)
Martin Heinrich (D) - New Mexico (still a U.S. Senator)
Heidi Heitkamp (D) - North Dakota (still a U.S. Senator)
Dean Heller (R) - Nevada (still a U.S. Senator)
John Hoeven (R) - North Dakota (still a U.S. Senator)
James Inhofe (R) - Oklahoma (still a U.S. Senator)
Johnny Isakson (R) - Georgia (still a U.S. Senator)
Mike Johanns (R) - Nebraska (no longer in the Senate)
Tim Johnson (D) - South Dakota (no longer in the Senate)
Ron Johnson (R) - Wisconsin (still a U.S. Senator)
Angus King (I) - Maine (still a U.S. Senator)
Mary Landrieu (D) - Lousiana (no longer in the Senate)
Mike Lee (R) - Utah (still a U.S. Senator)
Joe Manchin III (D) - West Virginia (still a U.S. Senator)
John McCain (R) - Arizona (still a U.S. Senator)
Mitch McConnell (R) - Kentucky (still a U.S. Senator)
Jerry Moran (R) - Kansas (still a U.S. Senator)
Lisa Murkowski (R) - Alaska (still a U.S. Senator)
Rand Paul (R) - Kentucky (still a U.S. Senator)
Rod Portman (R) - Ohio (still a U.S. Senator)
Mark Pryor (D) - Arkansas (no longer in the Senate)
Jim Risch (R) - Idaho (still a U.S. Senator)
Pat Roberts (R) - Kansas (still a U.S. Senator)
Marco Rubio (R) - Florida (still a U.S. Senator)
Tim Scott (R) - South Carolina (still a U.S. Senator)
Jess Sessions (R) - Alabama (no longer in the Senate, now Trump's Attorney General)
Richard Shelby (R) - Alabama (still a U.S. Senator)
Jon Tester (D) - Montana (still a U.S. Senator)
John Thune (R) - South Dakota (still a U.S. Senator)
Patrick Toomey (R) - Pennsylvania (still a U.S. Senator)
Mark Udall (D) - Colorado (no longer in the Senate)
Tom Udall (D) - New Mexico (still a U.S. Senator)
David Vitter (R) - Louisiana (no longer in the Senate, now a lobbyist)
Mark Warner (D) - Virginia (still a U.S. Senator)
Roger Wicker (R) - Mississippi (still a U.S. Senator)
* * *
People who defend their right to own assault weapons, bump stocks and the like talk about how they are concerned about fighting tyranny. That's a crock. Our democracy will not suddenly become a dictatorship. Our military forces can defend us from external threats.
Assault weapons have no purpose other than killing people in large numbers.
There's a scene in the 1992 film "Under Siege" where Steven Seagal as Navy Seal Casey Ryback is explaining how the weapon that he just handed to Erika Eleniak as Playboy Centerfold Jordan Tate works:
I'm giving you this rifle with a selector switch on it. One is fully automatic, one is semiautomatic. The definition of semiautomatic is, when you depress the trigger... ...one round will go off. That's what I want to give you. Spend one round at a time.
This is an example of the bump stock we've heard so much about in the wake of the Las Vegas Massacre.
* * *
The National Rifle Association is "open" to the idea of regulating the sale of bump stocks. Sounds like a change in attitude? Rest assured it is not. It is misdirection, a bit of sleight-of-hand. That is because they are pushing to get other legislation passed. One bill they want is the one making it easier for people to buy silencers. That got delayed after Congressman Steve Scalise got shot this past June during a Republican baseball practice.
The other bill they want to see passed is one involving permits to carry a concealed weapon (CCW). This bill would require all states to honor a CCW permit issued by another state.
It is tough to get a CCW permit in most California counties. California is tougher than most other states. The passage of this bill would keep states from enforcing their own policies regarding who gets the right to legally carry a concealed weapon.
Don't be fooled by this supposed change of heart by the NRA.
* * *
The New York Times published an article on the issue titled "Republicans Open to Banning "Bump Stocks" Used in Massacre." Here are a few quotes from that article:
“I own a lot of guns, and as a hunter and sportsman, I think that’s our right as Americans, but I don’t understand the use of this bump stock,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said, adding, “It seems like it’s an obvious area we ought to explore and see if it’s something Congress needs to act on.”
“We certainly want to learn more details on what occurred in Las Vegas,” Mr. Rubio said, “and if there are vulnerabilities in federal law that we should be addressing to prevent such attacks in the future, we would always be open to that.”
I find it interesting that Senators Cornyn and Rubio seems to be unaware of what bump stocks are, as they voted against a 2013 bill that would have banned "..all semiautomatic weapons that could accept a “military feature” like a detachable stock."
That bill failed on April 13, 2013, roughly four months after 20 children and six adults were murdered at Sandy Hook by Adam Lanza.
Four months after that horrific massacre, a bill to ban semiautomatic weapons failed in the U.S. Senate on a 60-40 vote. Senators Cornyn and Rubio voted NO. So claiming ignorance of bump stocks and other devices that can modify semi-automatic weapons to fire in automatic mode is dishonest. Unless of course they didn't bother to read the bill, or have their staffs brief them on it; and they just followed the instructions of the NRA lobbyists who gave money to their campaigns.
15 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting no on this piece of legislation. You should know who they are, so here are the NO voters. The people who weren't moved by the deaths of 26 innocents mere weeks earlier.
Lamar Alexander (R) - Tennessee (still a U.S. Senator)
Kelly Ayotte (R) - New Hampshire (no longer in the Senate)
John Barrasso (R) - Wyoming (still a U.S. Senator)
Max Baucus (D) - Montana (no longer in the Senate)
Mark Begich (D) - Alaska (no longer in the Senate)
Michael Bennett (D) - Colorado (still a U.S. Senator)
Roy Blunt (R) - Missouri (still a U.S. Senator)
John Boozman (R) - Arkansas (still a U.S. Senator)
Richard Burr (R) - North Carolina (still a U.S. Senator)
Saxby Chambliss (R) - Georgia (no longer in the Senate)
Dan Coats (R) - Indiana (no longer in the Senate, now Trumps Director of National Intelligence)
Tom Coburn (R) - Oklahoma (no longer in the Senate)
Thad Cochran (R) - Mississippi (still a U.S. Senator)
Susan Colling (R) - Maine (still a U.S. Senator)
Bob Corker (R) - Tennessee (still a U.S. Senator)
John Cornyn (R) - Texas (still a U.S. Senator)
Michael Crapo (R) - Idaho (still a U.S. Senator)
Ted Cruz (R) - Texas (still a U.S. Senator)
Joe Donnelly (D) - Indiana (still a U.S. Senator)
Michael Enzi - (R) - Wyoming (still a U.S. Senator)
Deb Fischer - (R) - Nebraska (still a U.S. Senator)
Jeff Flake - (R) - Arizona (still a U.S. Senator)
Lindsay Graham (R) - South Carolina (still a U.S. Senator)
Kay Hagan (D) - North Carolina (no longer in the Senate, now a lobbyist)
Orrin Hatch (R) - Utah (still a U.S. Senator)
Martin Heinrich (D) - New Mexico (still a U.S. Senator)
Heidi Heitkamp (D) - North Dakota (still a U.S. Senator)
Dean Heller (R) - Nevada (still a U.S. Senator)
John Hoeven (R) - North Dakota (still a U.S. Senator)
James Inhofe (R) - Oklahoma (still a U.S. Senator)
Johnny Isakson (R) - Georgia (still a U.S. Senator)
Mike Johanns (R) - Nebraska (no longer in the Senate)
Tim Johnson (D) - South Dakota (no longer in the Senate)
Ron Johnson (R) - Wisconsin (still a U.S. Senator)
Angus King (I) - Maine (still a U.S. Senator)
Mary Landrieu (D) - Lousiana (no longer in the Senate)
Mike Lee (R) - Utah (still a U.S. Senator)
Joe Manchin III (D) - West Virginia (still a U.S. Senator)
John McCain (R) - Arizona (still a U.S. Senator)
Mitch McConnell (R) - Kentucky (still a U.S. Senator)
Jerry Moran (R) - Kansas (still a U.S. Senator)
Lisa Murkowski (R) - Alaska (still a U.S. Senator)
Rand Paul (R) - Kentucky (still a U.S. Senator)
Rod Portman (R) - Ohio (still a U.S. Senator)
Mark Pryor (D) - Arkansas (no longer in the Senate)
Jim Risch (R) - Idaho (still a U.S. Senator)
Pat Roberts (R) - Kansas (still a U.S. Senator)
Marco Rubio (R) - Florida (still a U.S. Senator)
Tim Scott (R) - South Carolina (still a U.S. Senator)
Jess Sessions (R) - Alabama (no longer in the Senate, now Trump's Attorney General)
Richard Shelby (R) - Alabama (still a U.S. Senator)
Jon Tester (D) - Montana (still a U.S. Senator)
John Thune (R) - South Dakota (still a U.S. Senator)
Patrick Toomey (R) - Pennsylvania (still a U.S. Senator)
Mark Udall (D) - Colorado (no longer in the Senate)
Tom Udall (D) - New Mexico (still a U.S. Senator)
David Vitter (R) - Louisiana (no longer in the Senate, now a lobbyist)
Mark Warner (D) - Virginia (still a U.S. Senator)
Roger Wicker (R) - Mississippi (still a U.S. Senator)
* * *
People who defend their right to own assault weapons, bump stocks and the like talk about how they are concerned about fighting tyranny. That's a crock. Our democracy will not suddenly become a dictatorship. Our military forces can defend us from external threats.
Assault weapons have no purpose other than killing people in large numbers.
posted by me at 8:27 AM
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