Tag: Second Amendment

A poison pill amendment to simultaneously weaken a consumer-friendly credit card reform bill and reverse a hold on a controversial Bush Administration rule to allow concealed guns in national parks won U.S. Senate approval late Tuesday. Colorado Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall backed the measure introduced today by ultra-conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., following a weekend compromise by Senate Banking Committee members that further watered down some consumer protections but still not to the liking of the lobbyist-heavy financial industry.

Not to be outdone by Joe-the-Plumber's recent rant about not letting "queers" near his children, former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave has penned a fiery letter promoting her new gig at "Votes Have Consequences."

"We will spread the truth about their destructive agendas, drag down their approval ratings, force them to publicly defend socialism, authoritarian gun-grabbing, gay marriage, infanticide and everything else they vote for in Washington, and ultimately, on November 2, 2010, we will take their jobs away from them."

In recent weeks more than 60 people — including seven police officers — have been killed in multiple-death shootings from coast to coast.

U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey -- the unlikely Democratic newbie from Colorado's 4th Congressional District -- seems still fresh enough in her politics to actually be acting from conviction. This week she made news for unabashed strong stances on two controversial issues: She defied the president and attorney general by publicly opposing the reintroduction of an assault weapons ban. Then she defied the business lobby and co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

A federal judge has temporarily blocked implementation of a controversial 11th-hour Bush administration rule that would allow people to carry loaded, concealed guns in national parks, wildlife refuges and historical centers, according to the Washington Post.

Late in 2008, the Bush Administration rushed through a regulatory change that would allow concealed-carry firearms to be possessed in national parks and national wildlife refuges in accordance with state permit requirements. The rule went into effect on Jan. 9. The previous common-sense rule had been in effect for national parks since the early 1900s, in one form or another. The rule did not prohibit guns, but simply required them to be unloaded, cased and not immediately accessible.

Environmentalists and unarmed national park enthusiasts got a bit of a reprieve Tuesday when the new Obama Administration issued a memo halting further progress on a series of controversial midnight regulations pushed through in the waning days of a lame duck Bush White House.

Hotline notes a bizarre exchange on personal firepower at the Americans for Tax Reform debate featuring the six candidates who hope to lead the Republican National Committee out of the political wilderness over the next four years.

The onslaught of the 24-hour A Christmas Story marathon on cable television tomorrow raises an interesting contemporary question: when is a Second Amendment-protected firearm just a gun and when does it become a much bigger threat to public safety?

An 11th hour rule change in the waning days of the Bush Administration to allow visitors to carry loaded concealed weapons into national parks and wildlife refuges has generated tremendous hue and cry from environmentalists, park leaders and gun violence groups. While speculation has been raised about the likelihood of increased poaching and visitor squabbles being settled with Smith & Wesson peacemakers, rolling back the 25-year-old regulation that required guns to be unloaded and stowed away puts federal workers at much higher risk than Bambi.