The geek says it looks as though the battle for the Assault Weapons ban may start tomorrow:

S.659, the bill that will help eliminate frivolous lawsuits against the firearms industry, will be taken up in the Senate this week, possibly as soon as tomorrow. It is widely reported that Sen. Feinstein will attempt to amend the bill with a renewal of the 1994 “Assault Weapons” Ban.

The anti-gun lobby is staging a “phone-in” tomorrow (Tuesday, February 24th) in opposition to S.659. Though the bill already has enough co-sponsors (54) to ensure passage, a filibuster could still be attempted, which is presumably what the anti-gun side is hoping for.

To ensure our elected officials know they will lose more votes than they gain by supporting a renewal of the AWB, we all need to do our part by calling our Senators and voicing our strong opposition to the Feinstein AWB renewal amendment that will be offered for S.659… not only should this ban not be renewed, it should not be allowed to cloud the issue of whether S.659, an unrelated bill, should be passed.

The anti-gun folks are asking their people to call between the following hours:

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM Central Standard Time
7:00 AM – 11:00 AM Mountain Standard Time
6:00 AM – 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

Call 202-224-3121 and ask for one of your Senators’ offices (you’ll have to call back to reach the other one).

Get on it.

Update: Publicola has a very pessimistic take on it. Clayton Cramer has a more optimistic view. I wish I could share Clayton’s enthusiasm. As such, I’d advocate not taking the current situation lightly.

Posted in uncategorized on February 23rd, 2004 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |