It's Time to Stand up to the NRA . . . Again

It was utterly predictable; the NRA and its gun lobby allies are on the attack against my campaign for Manhattan District Attorney.

The gun plan I am proposing in my campaign couldn't be more straight-forward: develop a cooperative electronic regional interstate compact linking illegal gun trafficking investigations from the source states of illegal guns to New York with New York investigations. Dubbed the I-95 Compact, because Interstate 95 is the main conduit for illegal weapons coming to NY, such a compact would give us a highly focused look at gun traffickers and augment the scarce resources of ATF. My plan would also include:

• launching a community-based Gun Violence Task Force to link the community, NYPD and the DA's office into a common plan to help the community get rid of guns;
• passing micro-stamping legislation and a requirement that gun permits be renewed at least every 5 years at the state level;
• and yes - focusing on Congress to renew the ban on assault weapons, ban private sales without a background check and repeal the Tiahrt amendment.

The cold reality is that there is still much we can do to combat gun violence, and as a candidate for Manhattan DA, I do not intend to back away from these arguments. Much of what I propose can be done at the law enforcement level, without legislation.

However we must also re-establish the broad coalition that successfully challenged the NRA in the past and once again remove its chokehold from the neck of Congress. This tireless coalition of elected officials, victims and advocates, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with law enforcement, defied the odds and passed legislation that no one thought possible. I was proud to lead the Brady Campaign back then and will press hard now for the laws we need from Congress. While we can - and will - do much at the local level, we must collectively challenge Congress to change the laws that unnecessarily permit illegal guns to poisonously flow throughout our country infecting our cities and causing unnecessary death and destruction.

Simply put, there is not one single, legitimate reason why assault weapons should be made available to the public. Coupled with their large volume clips capable of carrying numerous rounds of ammunition (described in one ad as "extreme firepower"), these weapons of war have no legitimate purpose in civilian hands and are used to assault our police officers by criminals bent on destruction. Congress, which shamelessly allowed the ban on assault weapons to lapse in 2004, should redeem itself by renewing the ban now.

The loophole that permits the private sales of guns to occur without a Brady background check should be closed. There is no doubt that the Brady Law has been effective in stopping felons from purchasing guns from gun dealers. Since the Brady Law went into effect, nearly 700,000 felons and other prohibited individuals attempted to buy guns from dealers but were stopped because of the Brady background check. With this success in mind, why not seek to have all sales go through a background check to ferret out felons who seek to buy weapons.

The Tiahrt Amendment, passed at the behest of the NRA, has for too long prohibited local law enforcement from getting the data it needs to more effectively combat gun trafficking. In this modern era where information is key to effective law enforcement, depriving law enforcement of this critical data is irresponsible.

I know firsthand just how hard it is to get Congress to move on gun control legislation. But difficult or not, we have no choice but to try. When people unnecessarily die because we have failed to control guns, as they do every day, we cannot sit back and wait for others to act. The NRA is a tough adversary, but we beat them before, and we can beat them again.

Victims, advocates, law enforcement, elected officials and candidates must collectively combine our efforts, renew our coalition and press Congress for the gun laws that we need. It will not be easy. But we are obliged to do so for ourselves and for our children.

Richard Aborn is a former Manhattan prosecutor, former president of Handgun Control, Inc. (now the Brady Campaign), and a candidate for Manhattan District Attorney.

Comments

[djkrlsn]

With the right to carry restored in National Parks on a bipartisan basis (particularly in conjunction with the election of Carmen Trutanich (Chuck MIchels) as Los Angeles city attorney--it look like BC hacks are losing influence

[OdinsEye]

Richard Aborn,

The problems with your proposal are:

1. There is nothing wrong with the Tiahrt Amendment

2. Microstamping is useless

3. The 94 AWB was useless

4. A person should not need a permit to own a firearm

5. As California has found out, requiring background checks for private sales in largely unenforceable

[djkrlsn]

Mr Aborn--just a few point:the Miller and the Heller decisions protect civilian possesion of Ars,AKs, SKS and many other firearms: the BATFE want the Tiarht amendment to stay the way it is (and using it to sue FFLs and gunmakers for all sorts is BOGUS); and for what it is worth--the Brady campaign can not get its facts straight

[molonlabe]

Mr. Aborn,

Be careful about "standing up to the NRA." Remember, the NRA was the ONLY reason why the NICS Improvement Act was passed.

Also....

Maybe you should ask your anti-gun buddies (VPC, BC, etc...) why they are silent on gun safety education? You know, if curbing 'gun violence' is truly a concern to you people, why no push for EDUCATION? Oh, that's right, anti-gunners think that education is a conspiracy theory:

"The primary goal of the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle program is not to safeguard children, but to protect the interests of the NRA and the firearms industry by making guns more acceptable to children and youth. The Eddie Eagle program employs strategies similar to those utilized by America's tobacco industry—from youth "educational" programs that are in fact marketing tools to the use of appealing cartoon characters that aim to put a friendly face on a hazardous product. The hoped-for result is new customers for the industry and new members for the NRA."

http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/eddiekey.htm

The anti-gun movement is losing credibility and support fast. You may want to make note of this...

[HisXLNC]

Heaven, forbid children learn about gun safety. They might grow into well adjusted adults who buy their own guns, instead of hoplophobic sheep.

[HisXLNC]

"Simply put, there is not one single, legitimate reason why assault weapons should be made available to the public."

I thought that whole "well regulated militia" bit was a legitimate reason for "assault weapons". If they truly are weapons of war, then they most definitely should be made available to the public. After all, the militia is comprised of the public.

However, what you call "weapons of war" have never been used on any battlefield. The "assault weapons" as you call them are nothing more than rather average, medium-powered, semi-automatic rifles, the least abused and most peacefully used guns in our country. They are used by millions of people for competition, recreation, hunting, and self-defense. And currently, they are the best selling rifles in America. The true weapons of war have been unavailable to the public (without an onerous purchasing process) since 1986.

It is this deception that has earned you the ire of the NRA and it's 4 million+ members.

[djkrlsn]

Another good reason for owning ARs, AKs, SKSs, Mini14s and 30s was the FACT that these were the firearms that kept Koreatown from burning and getting trashed during the Rodney King riots in 1992.. I don't know about you, but being able to defend your home and neighborhood when the fit hits the sham is a very good reason for owning semiauto carbines in 223 Remington and 7.62X39

[greenmeanie]

Aborn is a past president of Handgun Control Inc (HCI). Can you say flaming bias AGAINST guns and gun owners!? No wonder the NRA opposes him.

[GoingBust]

2007 data:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/data/table_20.html

Total murders...­..........­..........­.....14,40­3.....100.­00%
Handguns..­..........­..........­..........­..7,086...­...49.20%
Other weapons (non firearm, non edged)....­2,043.....­.14.18%
Edged weapons...­..........­..........­......1,75­3......12.­17%
Firearms (type unknown)..­..........­.......1,8­19......12­.63%
Shotguns..­..........­..........­..........­....436...­....3.02%
Hands, fists, feet, etc.......­..........­....827...­....5.74%
Rifles....­..........­..........­..........­....439...­....3.05%
So what is this telling us? It looks to me that there are several things we can take away from this data:

1. The percent of murders committed with all rifles, not just semiautomatic, but all rifles including bolt actions, lever actions, single shots, and all other types, account for only 3% of murders. The number of murders committed with semi-automatic rifles is clearly even lower. All the murders committed with "dangerous" “assault rifles” taken together account for less than 3% of all murders. Since you are lobbying to ban these rifles, I would expect that they were a larger part of the problem, but they are not.
2. Rifles represent the lowest danger of all weapon types, including "no weapon”. For every 17 murders committed with a handgun, one is committed with a rifle.
3. Despite the fact that semi-automatic rifles weapons are also said to be "increasingly" used by criminals by the Brady Campaign (I would like a quote for this but I can't find it), the percentage of murders committed with all rifles is holding steady at around 3%.

[GoingBust]

Semi-automatic rifles are not a crime source or a crime problem. The problem with these weapons is minimal compared to handguns and far less sophisticated weapons. They are not being used increasingly in crime. The fact is, because these weapons cannot be concealed, they are the poorest possible crime weapon imaginable. You and the Brady Campaign simply use semi-automatic rifles as a red herring, but no one is biting anymore. Please turn your attention to passing laws that will deter crime like longer sentences for gun crime, gun running, and criminal gun possession.

[djkrlsn]

In terms of your beef about the Tiarht amendment--the BATFE and LEOs have full access to that information and the ONLY reason why Bloomie and the Brady Bunch want access is to file bogus lawsuits against gun retailers and manufacturers. In terms of the registration--since felons do not have to register their guns because of Haynes, I see no reason for law abiding legal gun owners to do so. The microstamping has the major problem of criminals going to public ranges, picking up marked ammo and scattering around the crime scene to muddy the waters--and putting innocent people to the risks of false charges, legal fees etc is BOGUS

[InanimateObject]

The background checks refuse to acknowledge that so many of the sales it prevented were due to clerical errors and not because of the persons actions, prove otherwise!

Where are all the prosecutions that were shot down by the NRA? By Aborns statements, they must number in the tens of thousands? They must have been fool proof cases against the defendant yet the NRA bamboozled the courts that there was reasonable doubt? Yeah, and the moon is made of cheese, no evidence, no credibility!

All these lies by the anti gun crowd and the idiots in NY will probably elect Aborn as he is by and far a well accomplished liar. So Ben, ydo you really want to associate with such a group of accomplished liars. Or do you want to review all the data and make a reasoned, logical response that has some chance of reducing violence, or are you too brainwashed to understand?

[InanimateObject]

I guess the data from the FBI on gun crime and Felonious Police deaths shows a dramatic increase since the AWB ban was allowed to lapse? Uh, no it doesnt! I guess that the FBI doesnt show that only 2% of violent crime is associated with semi-auto rifles, yep, less than 2% woo hoo thats a big result. That is really cause for concern isnt it? I guess since you are 7.78 times more likely to be harmed by a drunk driver than a firearm, maybe you should reconsider what is important. Since you are 6,340 times more likely to be harmed by your physician than a law abiding firearm owner that we should ban physicians?

I guess since only 1 million gang members are responsible for 80% of the violent crime, you should only work on legislation that only affects the remaining 299 million citizens in the US?

I guess you have verifiable metallurgical and physics proof that microstamping is a relaible process, uh no it isnt, unless you and the anti's are capable of changing the laws of physics just by your say so!

I guess that since you refuse to put a copy of the Tihart amenmedt up and point directly to the clauses and sections that prevent the police from using the data, we guess you want this repealed because it doesnt allow the media and politicians unfettered access to use portion sof the data as half truth and propoganda!

Cont

[InanimateObject]

You see Ben, per the USDOJ a government agency, Gang report Jan 2009, 80% of violent crime in the US (FBI data 2007 = 1.38 MILL) is due to 1 million gang mebers whose activities are supported by the massive revenue from illicit drugs. Or dont you believe a government agency Ben? The USDOJ Victimazation report, also identifies that 75% of all violent crime isnt reported (5.2 million in 2007).

The US spends between $50-$100 billion per year in drug interdictions. There are 2.7 million prisoners in state and federal prisons of which 20-40% are drug related. There is over $40 bill the Mexican drug cartels take back to Mexico, our overlaoded court system failing to prosecute consistently could be reduced by 20-40%. Less police required, the DEA and agents for drug interdiction could be used on the border to stop illiegal immigration that costs US taxpayers more than $12 billion per year.

Reduce violent crime by 50-70% and that is more than 650k-1.03m­ill less violent crime which means less murders, assaults, injuries property loss, less drug culture.

Roughly legalizing drugs would save this country between $128 -$225 bilion per year. How about then using those monies to improve our schools, create more jobs in the drug prevention field focusing on people habits and social structures.

So I guess you would rather vlather on about useless new laws and tests that are scientifically unviable or repeatable?

Cont.

[InanimateObject]

Hey Ben, how about we modify the first amendment so that any lies are used in founding legislation, that legislation then automatically becomes null and void and illegal to resubmit to any state much less federal congress.

Lets change the law to make it treason to infringe upon a citizens rights.

Lets change the law so that anyone who supports a law, then causes more harm than good is held legally and fiscally responsible.

Lets put the same restrictions or elimination on the first amendment that you and all the hypocrites wish to impose on the second amendment as any lies, talk and ideas that arent government sanctioned are a dangerous thing in any attempted socialistic paradise!

Lets all believe a stupid comment with no data, and no credibility to support a stated position like Ben did. So Ben, what exactly is your purpose by supporting lies and half truths without showing the real data just like Richard Aborn and all the Brady Bunches ( a minority at best) just love to do!

Why is it Ben that you seem to put more faith in the approx 5,000 politicians in this country and not the average citizen?

Most of all Ben, how about proposing a solution that actually addresses one of the root causes of violence, like legalizing illicit drugs? Cont

[RichardRD]

I have a better solution, why not LOCK UP criminals when they violate the present Laws?
Even better, allow EVERONE to embrace their 2nd Amendment RIGHT to keep and bear arms at ALL times and the criminals will no longer be the only ones armed in the 'gun free' zones since those zones will no longer exist.
Gun Control has a long history of failure and despotism behind it, just because a new crop of politicians supports it does NOT mean it has gotten any better at stopping crime and violence.

BTW, since ONLY 32, 000 people a year die from the use or misuse of guns (more than half of which are suicides), why aren't automobiles better regulated to stop the 42,000+ deaths a year from car 'accidents'?

[Ben Dixon]

Here is a better solution to gun violence, scrap the 2nd admendment.