Many own semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 for sporting, target shooting and home defense. Even if they don't, they do not want to see another Federal Assault Weapons Ban. They consider that to be a small step to further bans on semi automatic rifles and eventually to semi automatic pistols.
Hillary once said an Australian gun buy back program was an idea worth considering. That might have sounded fine to most people but gun owners know it was not a voluntary program but mandatory. It was effectively gun confiscation.
Hillary Clinton Says A National Gun Buyback Program Is ‘Worth Considering’
The NRA says she wants to “confiscate” your guns.
10/16/2015 06:06 pm ET
It’s “worth considering” whether the United States should emulate Australia by instituting a national gun buyback program, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Friday at a town hall in New Hampshire.
A man in the audience asked Clinton whether she thought it would be possible for the U.S. to enact such a program, and if not, why. Gun buybacks have happened at the metropolitan level in the U.S., but any effort at the national level would be sure to run into intense political opposition.
Clinton, for her part, seemed open to the idea.
“Australia is a good example, Canada is a good example, the U.K. is a good example. Why? Because each of them have had mass killings” she said. “Australia had a huge mass killing about 20, 25 years ago, Canada did as well, so did the U.K. And, in reaction, they passed much stricter gun laws.”
Australia’s mandatory gun buyback program of semiautomatic and automatic rifles and shotguns was enacted after a shooter killed 35 people in 1996. The country bought back more than 650,000 weapons. (...emphasis added)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-gun-buybacks_us_56216331e4b02f6a900c5d67
To be fair to Hillary she may not have realized the program was mandatory. She was asked a question she may not have prepared for and she gave a quick answer. However even if Hillary "misspoke" she never corrected that response by saying that she was not in favor any mandatory gun confiscation program but instead was for a voluntary buy back program.
Many firearm owners have a considerable amount of money invested in their firearms and quite often such weapons turn out to be excellent investments. What the government may consider a fair price for a weapon might not take in consideration the value the weapon might gain over the years. Often shrewd investment in a gun collection can yield more than an investment in the stock market especially in difficult times.
Even the firearm owner with only several firearms does not want to turn them into the government. They will agree that efforts should be taken to remove firearms from the criminal element and those who should never have them to begin with. Most feel current laws are not stricky enforced and anyone with a criminal record caught illegally carrying a firearm should spend a long time in prison. They feel that all too often such people get off with a slap on the wrist or plea bargain the charge down to a much lower level.
So firearm owners, especially those who have money in the game, show up at the pools and vote. That vote may tip the results in close elections. It is my opinion that in recent years the gun owner vote has cost the Democratic Party many elections at the local, state and national levels and also kept several Democratic candidates out of the White House.
The gun owner vote may also have hurt Romney in his try to beat Obama. Romney was not viewed by gun owners as a true supporter of gun rights. Many just decided to stay home and not vote.
Finally many gun owners felt Hillary would put very liberal Justices on the Supreme Court and over the years the Second Amendment would be castrated and rendered worthless.
In my opinion the Democratic Party needs to drop the push for strong gun control such as another assault weapons ban in the future and make that absolutely clear to the voters. In a few years we may once again win close elections when the gun owners vote for Democrats once again. Unfortunately the chances of that happening are realistically like my chances of winning the Lotto if I don't bother to buy a ticket but find one on the street.
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