Assault Weapons Ban No Longer Part of Gun Bill
Almost certainly going to be defeated
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on Monday that a controversial assault weapons ban will not be part of a Democratic gun bill that was expected to reach the Senate floor next month.
After a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday, a frustrated Feinstein said she learned that the bill she sponsored — which bans 157 different models of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines — wouldn't be part of a Democratic gun bill to be offered on the Senate floor. Instead, it can be offered as an amendment. But its exclusion from the package makes what was already an uphill battle an almost certain defeat.
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Watch out pearls, there's going to be lot of clutching going on now.
There are moments when Harry sticks it to his own side that make Boehner envious.
IIRC, there are 10 Dems (IIRC) from states that went Romney up in 2014. Seems like if he let that go to a vote, those 10 either lose in the general, or get primaried for voting against it. Maybe a few other seats, too.
Seems like the smartest thing Reid could do.
Gun control is in the democrat DNA now and part of who they are in their belief system. To go against it to reach out for independents loses much of their activist base support. Gun control, free shit and antipathy to those outside of the tribe are the three legs of their party tripod.
The vote on that amendment should be pretty great. Imagining the screaming back and forth on the bill is even better.