The Reasonable & The… whatever this is
Read this statement from Sen. Laura Sturgeon and compare it with the DE-NRA’s statement below. The contrast is dizzying.
I know most of the people on the “other side” (especially those in the comment sections) won’t believe me, but my colleagues and I genuinely want to work together with opponents and supporters alike to pass the best legislation possible. Far from being the result of our “feelings,” (even less so because we are “commies” or “traitors) the bills we introduced yesterday come from concerted efforts, here and across the nation, to research gun violence, suicide and accident rates, policy effectiveness and polling data, court cases and testimonials. Some bills (like safe storage) even mirror what the NRA itself advises: https://gunsafetyrules.nra.org/
If any bill can be improved, let it be amended. If any bill is not supported by at least half of our state, let it be defeated. That’s how democracy works.
Whatever we do, however the votes pan out, we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing. We cannot be bribed or intimidated into silence. We cannot see gun violence in our cities and around the nation and not at least try, within the bounds of constitutional law, to do something.
It is good that these bills are going to be heard and debated in the General Assembly. It is good that Delawareans are voicing their opinions on them.
I support these bills. The majority of my constituents, including many gun owners I spoke to at the door last fall, support these bills. I look forward to the committee and Senate hearings ahead.
Now for the DE-NRA:
!! ACTION ALERT: TOWNSEND GUN BAN BILL RESURRECTED – AND HE’S NOW AIMING TO TAKE AWAY MORE AMERICAN FREEDOMS !!
STOP THE TOWNSEND ANTI-GUN, ANTI-AMERICAN FREEDOM LEGISLATION IN ITS TRACKS
Just like last year, Delaware Senator Bryan Townsend is pushing legislation that will outlaw thousands upon thousands of semi-auto rifles, pistols and shotguns owned by tens of thousands of law-abiding Delawareans–including America’s favorite rifle, the Colt AR-15, and many pistols used by thousands of Delaware home-owners as home and personal defense firearms.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
Sen. Townsend and some of his anti-American freedom cronies also want to make criminals out of law-abiding Delawareans and render almost all of your gun useless by instituting a ban on all firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition! Yes, you read that correctly: They want to make your guns useless by banning all of the common magazines the guns currently use! And, oh by the way, Sen. Townsend’s horrible bill calls for you to “relinquish the large capacity magazine to a law-enforcement agency” by June 30, 2020!
BUT WAIT! THERE’S EVEN MORE!
Clear the red, white, and blue tears from your eyes and read even more about Sen. Townsend’s push to disarm law-abiding Delaware and American citizens. He, along with Senator Sturgeon and Representatives Griffith and Bentz will create a de facto gun registry by creating “an application process to obtain a handgun qualified purchaser card” so that a law abiding Delaware and American can purchase a handgun and an application “to authorize the purchase of a handgun, or a firearms qualified purchaser card” to allow law-abiding citizens to purchase any firearm! What’s more, the bill requires everyone to complete a training course for purchasing a firearm, leaves the ultimate decision to grant a firearm license up to the State, and imposes a wait period up to 30 days! In case you’re not perplexed enough, Townsend and his posse place time restrictions on the firearm purchaser cards and limit the purchase to only 1 handgun!
So… I’m trying to make sense of the rapid change of heart and sudden spinal integrity the De Legislature is showing and I think a simple truth is that the DE-NRA finally has a counterweight.
Mom’s Demand Action has the kind of single-issue focus that only the DE-NRA has had up until now. They’ve gotten the word out that they’ll be holding people accountable for their votes and turning out voters and primary challengers in large numbers when they need to.
Knowing this, it makes sense to go with an ambitious gun sanity package. As El Som pointed out, noodling around the edges would bring about the same amount NRA craziness.
There’s no change of heart until legislation actually passes. The margin in the Senate is slim. Ennis and Paradee are likely nos, Cloutier is a likely yes. That’s 11-10. No room for further defections.
The House has week-kneed legislators like Bennett and Q. Johnson, and an almost certain no in Lumpy Carson. Plus, we’ve seen Val Longhurst negotiate against herself before, and turned previous gun legislation into something toothless.
This is gonna be really challenging. But worth the effort.
Thanks for that clear-eyed assessment. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but just the distance travelled so far is close to astonishing.
Speaking of Ennis who’s being groomed to replace him? Note to the Wilmington centric Dems, there are tons of new people in this area, they are upscale and not conservative at all, at the same time the crusty old codgers on the back roads are dying off (YAY!!!). We should be able to retain the seat and get a non DINO to fill it. yes friends, we can dream!
Ennis is only a DINO on gun issues and some social issues. He’s a real D on economic issues like minimum wage and higher taxes for the wealthy. And support for people living in mobile home parks.
Even if you’re correct, you could well wind up with a Bill Bush-type D. Which is a downgrade.