Can someone debunk this TV report on

[doc03]

Obama's gun policy. The 6pm news had this story from a local gun shop owner (NRA/Republican activist) telling how his gun sales have gone through the roof since it was apparent Obama may become President. He is claiming Obama is going to stop all manufactureing and sales of all semi-automatic weapons. The TV station also has that listed as Obama's gun policy on their site. This is very important this TV station is in Steubenville Ohio and covers the east Ohio and Pittsburgh PA area. I can't find anything on the Obama web site that debunks this claim. If they are wrong someone please contact this station and set them strait. Here's the link to the story:http://www.wtov9.com/news/17824947/detail.html

[Cattledog]

1. Here ya go

http://obama.3cdn.net/7d467fe75a3029d7df_hum6injwr.pdf

[doc03]

4. I have already looked through the issues

on his site and can't find anything to debunk that claim, that's just the kind of thing that could switch thousands of votes around here.

[slackmaster]

32. I believe if the DNC had dropped the AWB plank from the platform, the election wouldn't be close

At least not as close as it's probably going to be.

[evlbstrd]

2. The answers to most questions like this can be found on his web site.

www.barackobama.com

http://obama.3cdn.net/7d467fe75a3029d7df_hum6injwr.pdf

[Overseas]

3. They know how best to promote gun sales.

Better for them not to tell the truth. Not to direct them to Obama's repeated assurances that he will not take away their guns.

[doc03]

6. In the process they may also swing enough voters

to lose PA and Ohio, people are nuts about their guns here.

[Overseas]

11. I sent your blurb to Watchdog at Barack Obama dot com

so they can debunk it directly, as you requested.

There's a lot of info on Fact Check dot org because the NRA has spent millions trying to scare people about Obama's gun policies.

He's more liberal in some respects, particularly hunting and fishing

and supports some gun control in other areas which I can't summarize confidently, not being a gun person.

[doc03]

13. Thank you very much, I didn't know where to

look for the information other than on the official campaign site which doesn't say anything other then they support the Second Amendment. You could claim to support the second Amendment then ban all rifle and pistol ammo or all guns except a Civil War Musket.

[Mojorabbit]

28. We have received

over ten mailings from the NRA here in Fl with scare language re Obama. I imagine they are working the PA area as well.

[slackmaster]

31. The NRA has called me several times in the last few weeks asking for money

I haven't given them a dime.

Since I am not a member, they must have gotten my name from either my Federal Firearms License or another organization that I do belong to, e.g. the Garand Collectors Association.

[bushisanidiot]

5. I've been planning on getting a gun. Guess I'll have to wear my Obama shirt into the shop

so they don't confuse me with the scaredy cat gun nuts.

[doc03]

7. So I guess I can assume the report is true

that he will ban all semi-automatic guns, since no one can come up with any evidence to the contrary.

[JJ]

8. I can't debunk the claim...

that McCain eats babies for lunch on alternating Wednesdays either.


The sky isn't blue on the planet these wing-nuts live on, waste of breathe telling them it is.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

17. The burden is on the person making the claim to provide proof.

It's not on you to provide proof AGAINST unsubstantiated claims that they can endlessly generate about anything and everything.

People who want to vote for or against Obama or McCain at this point are not going to change their vote based on this.

It's all about getting people to the polls now.

[slackmaster]

29. Actually, a President does not have the power to enact laws

Behavior of the present White House occupant notwithstanding.

He could sign such a bill into law if Congress presented him with one.

Frankly I don't think even Congress is dumb enough to do something like that.

[zbdent]

15. Don't wear the one with the red white and blue in the circle ...

makes them think it's a target ...

[stillcool]

9. can you call them and ask them..

where they're getting their information from? I've never read anything like it. You would think after almost 2 years it would be out there.

[spanone]

10. bullshit gun sales are up because the economy is tanking and people get scared

[slackmaster]

30. I think it's both that and the prospect of a Democratic Congress and President

Despite the likelihood that some people are buying firearms out of fear from a tanking economy they are usually discretionary purchases, and like most discretionary items sales tend to rise and fall with disposable income.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/27/politics/washingtonpost/main4547564.shtml

Increased gun sales are a predictable unintended consequence whenever there are discussions about gun control. Sales also go up right after urban riots. One of the greatest ironies of the federal "assault weapons" "ban" of 1994 - 2004 is the massive proliferation of items like AR-15 rifles that were affected (and not really banned) by the attempt to restrict them. There are now millions more AR-15 rifles and owners than there were in 1994, dozens of manufacturers now compared to a handful before the AWB.

[TheKentuckian]

12. You can't expect us to have answers to stupid lies

other than its not true. I could say McGollum was to legalize rape gangs and use them extensively as a law enforcement tool and all McGollum can say is that's not true.

The person making the accusation has the burden of proof, stop being a shrinking violet and demand evidence of the claim or dismiss it as a bold-faced and stupid lie.
Remind them that one of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shall not bear false witness". Tell him his bogus attack is a sin before God and call him a liar to his face.

[Viking12]

14. I smell a rat.

We had a report with the EXACT same theme here in the Green Bay, WI market this evening.

[doc03]

19. You are right, Kattie Couric had the same report yesterday

she said the gun sales were up because people were afraid of crime because of the economy and because people feared Obama would outlaw guns. Brian Williams made a similar report yesterday but didn't repeat the line about Obama. I would say this is a talking point put out by the NRA and the GOP yesterday. The gun dealer in the story is a big NRA supporter and Republican and I figure he fed the story to the TV station, he has done it before when the NRA is pushing something.

[zbdent]

16. This sounds like the type of guy like the owner in Texas

to Texans: "You need a gun to protect yourselves from all those invading criminals from New Orleans!"

to the displaced Katrina victims: "You need a gun to protect yourselves from all those nutcases who think you're criminals!"

to his teller at the bank: "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

[TxRider]

18. You might want to go over to the DU gun forum..

All the info you want is there.

From my understanding Obama has said he supports a reinstated AWB, and the most current incarnation is HR 1022, which is much farther reaching than the original AWB.

Biden claims to have written the original AWB, and has proposed ammunition bans that covered many semi auto rifles.

I believe that used to be on the main campaign web site, as well as the DNC web site.

And yes, even democrats voting for Obama are going out to get their rifles before the election is over, and stock up on ammunition just in case, while they can.

Personally I have two rifles that would be banned, but as the ban only applies to new gun sales, it's not a problem for me personally...

It will swing votes, but probably no more than it already has. The economy is overshadowing it, and McCain isn't pushing the issue(at least I've seen no ads about it in Texas), so it will likely have little effect.

[doc03]

21. McCain is certainly pushing the issue here, I get a mailer

from the GOP and the NRA nearly every day. If that is Obama' position I am very disappointed because that is not what he and Biden have been telling us. Why would they reinstate the AWB, it doesn't work? The ammunition ban is really bad any ammo you ban for assault weapons are also used in hunting guns, this is very disturbing. From what you say the NRA mailers are not just scare tactics. This issue and the other one that has come up recently about the Democrats wanting to take the tax deferment from 401ks are both very disappointing.

[TxRider]

25. I hadn't herd that

All I'e heard about 401k's is that both McCain and Obama want to not force retirees to withdraw them as the law requires at a certain age, and no penalty for some early withdrawals..

As for the gun thing, yes he says AWB, and yes we know the last one was basically toothless and actually didn't ban a single weapon... HR1022 is a lot stricter, and will ban a lot of real rifles. It also gives the AG power to ban basically any rifle he wants to at will.

I've seen a steady backing off of this point by Obama since the Heller decision though. We'll just have to wait and see. It's not on his web site anymore, and I haven't checked the DNC web site for a while.

If he's backing HR 1022 it's going to be a bad thing, and very unpopular. But he has never really elaborated about which specific version of the AWB he supports. So again, we'll just have to wait and see.

And then again whatever it is, if he pushes for it, will probably have to go up to the courts vs the Heller decision.

Heller is now going to be to 2nd amendment rights like Roe is to abortion rights.

[windshaper]

27. yup

yup

[whitewomenforobama]

20. Have you seen "Fight the Smears"?

Fight the Smears article on Obama's position on guns: http://fightthesmears.com/articles/17/NRAflyer

Bonus: Scroll down this at this link for links to Factcheck and WaPo articles debunking misrepresentations of Obama's positions on guns.

[benEzra]

22. That site helps some, but leaves the big issue unaddressed.

The only concrete statement about new gun bans implies support for a new ban on "assault weapons," which is the main thing gun owners are concerned about. More Americans own so-called "assault weapons" than hunt.

I am hoping that he will be savvy enough to drop the call for new bans, to avoid another 1994 in 2010. Here's hoping.

Observations from 2004 that would be apropos here:

Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)

[Lerrad]

23. June Supreme Court Ruling - makes it impossible for Obama to take away their guns.

Screw the NRA and their lies! Obama can not take their guns away because in June the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment Guarantees a PRIVATE right to bear arms. PERIOD!

<Snip>
At the same time, the gun issue is losing its potency. Sure, the National Rifle Association is running television ads implying that Obama wants to take away hunting guns, but that attack is weakened by the recent success of the gun lobby at the Supreme Court. In June, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees a private right to bear arms—a decision Obama promptly embraced. Such a backdrop makes the scare tactics less likely to stick

http://www.huntersandshooters.com/index.php

The American Hunters and Shooters Association have endorsed Obama.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/09/30/barack-obama-should-fish-for-votes-among-hunters-and-sportsmen.html

[Lerrad]

24. One more thing you can research is ......

.... the environmental issues talked about in one of those articles I gave you links to.

The Bush administration and the Re pugs, don't care much about environmental issues. If the lands are not set aside to protect wild life, there won't be any wild life. Ed Schultz had a guy on last week from the American Hunters and Shooters Association talking about this, and how the Bush administration had voted against protecting land. In his opinion if they vote for McCain they will be voting against their best interest.

[TxRider]

26. Partially right

The Heller decision has put the gun issue in the closet, and a lot of gun owners aren't as sensitive to gun issues now, they feel safe.

But the "reasonable regulation" from the Heller decision will be tested to it's fullest in the courts, which is where an AWB comes in.

I have a feeling Obama would rather wait to see how some of the cases now in the courts fare before chasing any gun legislation, but I'm not so sure congress will show such restraint and judgment.