In a surprisingly fair article the Chicago Tribune reports:
Fresh off its success at poking holes in a Wilmette handgun ban, the National Rifle Association has launched a new legislative drive to dismantle strong gun prohibitions in Chicago and test Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s wavering commitment to broader gun control.
Taking direct aim at Mayor Richard Daley’s hard-line stance against the proliferation of guns, the NRA package of state legislation would allow residents of Chicago and other communities that ban handgun ownership to legally keep the weapons in their homes for self-defense purposes. It also would hold Chicago and other places with bans liable for injuries that residents claimed could have been avoided had they been allowed to carry handguns.
And this editorial claims Howard Dean as chairman of the DNC will be “The last nail in gun control”:
The expected election of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee this month will strike a crippling blow to the gun-control movement, lobbyists and political observers say.
Like Dean, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is a strong supporter of gun rights. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports gun control but rarely mentioned the issue before the 2004 election.
I’ve been watching WA state flirting with an assault weapon and .50 BMG ban the last couple of weeks and I have concluded it probably won’t go anywhere. Yeah, they introduced it but hundreds of freedom supports showed up for the hearings and only a handful of bigots showed their support. Something could pass, but I put the odds at about 30%.
The risk freedom advocates run now is that we relax. NOW is the time to (politically) shoot anti-freedom bigots in the back as they run for cover. We should root them out of their hidey holes like Saddam Hussein and humiliate them with our political victories and the data showing freedom is not to be feared. Let Freedom Ring in our country as well as around the world.