Conservatives confident on gun measures

March 15, 2013 @ 1:55 pm


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OXON HILL, Md. (AP) - Conservatives are all but declaring victory on their defense of gun rights, exuding confidence as calls for aggressive controls in the wake of the Newtown elementary school massacre have given way to scaled-back expectations to firearm restrictions in Congress.

"They can call me crazy and whatever else they want, but NRA's nearly 5 million members and America's 100 million gun owners will not back down _ not now, not ever," an emboldened Wayne LaPierre, the CEO and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told conservatives gathered at an annual conference. He pointedly ignored President Barack Obama's most restrictive proposals in his speech, using it instead to assail the one that has the potential of getting approved _ a near-universal background check for gun owners.

It's a sign that LaPierre _ and others at the Conservative Political Action Conference _ thinks the nation's largest pro-gun lobby has successfully beaten back the most limiting proposals.

Indeed, a bipartisan deal on near-universal background checks for firearms buyers remains a real possibility. And Congress still could pass a ban on high-capacity magazines. But Democrats haven't been able to muster enough support, even within their own ranks, to push through an assault weapons ban.

That's by far the most restrictive of the series of changes Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have sought following the Connecticut school shooting that killed 26 children and educators and a series of deadly shootings in Aurora, Colo., Oak Creek, Wis., and elsewhere.

In the hallways of the Conservative Political Action Conference, many activists echoed LaPierre. Few of them talked with urgency about the outcome of an assault weapons ban or some of the other proposed restrictions. And many exuded a quiet confidence that a divided Congress won't act on even the more modest proposal to implement mandatory background checks.

"I don't think it's going to get done," said Randy Smith, a California technology company owner. "There's no way."

Mel Wilcox, a medical professor from Birmingham, Ala., who owns guns and hunts, said he "doesn't really have a problem" with the mandatory background checks but said he didn't expect Congress to act. "I don't think they'll ever push something through," he said.

Several activists pointed to simple arithmetic to explain their confidence in limited gun measures: Republicans remain adamantly opposed to restrictions to assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and several Senate Democrats are facing re-election next year in rural states populated with many gun owners.

"There are too many Democrats who know they won't last long," said William Temple, a tea party member from Brunswick, Ga.

Connor Martin, Marine veteran and a gun owner from Bay City, Wis., said the upcoming re-election campaigns of several Senate Democrats, including Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Max Baucus of Montana, would make it extremely difficult for Democrats to muster enough votes to pass the changes.

It's clear where Republicans in Congress stand on the measures.

Every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against bills the panel approved this week on background checks and the assault weapons ban. A third measure toughening federal penalties against illegal gun trafficking won committee passage last week with the support of only one Republican _ Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top GOP committee member. The other seven GOP senators opposed it. A fourth bill, slightly increasing federal aid for school safety, passed the committee with bipartisan support.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he will decide soon how to bring the measures to the Senate floor, where debate is expected next month.

In his speech, LaPierre called the proposal for mandatory background checks for gun owners a "placebo" that would not make schools or streets safer but would lead to a registration of lawful gun owners _ lists that he said could be made public in local newspapers.

"In the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners: to tax them or to take them," he said.

LaPierre ridiculed Biden's suggestion during a Facebook town last month that women like his wife, Jill, could fire "two blasts" from a shotgun if they felt threatened.

"Have they lost their minds over at the White House?" LaPierre said, noting that Biden has had armed protection in the Senate and as vice president. "You keep your advice. We'll keep our guns."

Support for the NRA was omnipresent at the conference. Many participants wore red NRA stickers on their coats with the motto, "Stand and Fight," and an NRA booth in the conference's exhibit hall offered bright-orange bags with pamphlets and bumper stickers carrying the group's message. The sign above the booth underscored the NRA's heft: "I'm a bitter gun owner and I vote."

Prominent Republicans have expressed support from the podium.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told attendees that the path forward for the GOP was "rooted in respect for the Constitution and respect for the individual. Part of that respect is allowing Americans to freely exercise one of their most basic rights, the right to bear arms."

The White House expressed support Friday that some compromise could be found. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said aboard Air Force One en route to Chicago that nothing proposed by Obama would "take a firearm away from a law-abiding citizen."

"There's plenty of common ground for us to seize, to move forward, that would reduce gun violence in our communities," Earnest said.

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Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomasand Steve Peoples http://twitter.com/sppeoples


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (5)


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  • CH wrote...
    Conservatives make gun issue their new rallying cry
    February 2, 2013 9:28 am
    Guns vs children. Conservatives picked Guns.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    LaPierre is merely showing how impared he really is....
    March 15, 2013 8:50 am
    It's amazing how much of an idiot LaPierre and many right wingers are. 1) LaPierre wholeheartedly supported universal background checks in the past - when it was unlikely that a bill would be passed to implement them. 2) LaPierre is now wholeheartedly against universal background checks now that it's likely they will pass. 3) the overhwhelming majority of Americans WANT universal background checks 4) The comparison of a future America to the tinpot dictatorships and totalitarian states is a phony one. Our Constitution has a set of checks and balances that PREVENT our country from falling into a dictatorship or a totalitarian state - and even if we managed somehow to fall far enough to get there, the dictator or totalitarian leader would IGNORE the constitution anyway - your precious 2nd amendment rights, 1st amendment rights and every other right would fall into the trash basket ANYWAY if that ever happened. Whenever the American people get tired of the direction of one party, they elect the other party into power, thereby preventing one party, or one person from EVER getting the power to take us to dictatorship or totalitarian leadership. The only way to even begin to take us to totalitarian state is to prevent certain groups from voting - oh wait, did I just describe what the REPUBLICANS have been trying to do????? 5) Properly thought out gun control laws DO NOT violate your second amendment right. You have the right to vote - but you don't get to do it without going through a minimal background check (photo ID, home address check, etc.). The hysteria behind the 'no way on ANY gun control' crowd - in my humble opinion - borders on a paranoia so deep that it is nearly a mental illness. Again - that's my opinion, your mileage may vary. And yes - I'm a gun owner and would be affected by ANY chance in gun laws.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Poser stop listening to Obama ministry of LIES.
    March 15, 2013 1:47 pm
    The vast majority of Americans do not want your Dear Leader taking any of our rights away! Turn off msnbc and you may understand the truth. Those "Check and balances" you utter here as instructed by msnbc? Why do "think"? for one second why we Americans are fighting this regime like we are?

    This regime will not get legislation passed taking away our Bill of Rights. They don't have a chance. Never did. Best your regime can hope for is some piece meal thing and your Dear Leader and the regime and the Liberal controlled media will be crying about in the streets and blaming republicans, Bush, the man in the moon, whomever for not getting everything they want. That being the Liberal dream of ending Gun ownership in America.

    I am in favor of the idea of background checks. Actually I want to know more about them as proposed. I just want to know who will have this information. Obama does not need to know how many gun that I have and what kinds. This is AGAINST our US Constitution Poser!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    you really want to lose your mind?
    March 15, 2013 6:20 pm
    turn on fake news! Example: It's me! Ha ha! the moron. How is President Romney working out for you today? LOL. Who will be your next Circus Clown in 2016? Want to bet you will 'lose' again?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    ch
    March 16, 2013 8:28 am
    Care to explain how your rant changes what is happening to your beloved regime? Your Dear Leaders popularity and policies are, have, failed.

    I can't wait for 2014.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }