The case against an assault weapons ban

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21. You make it sound so simple ....

Just make AR type rifles illegal to own and then confiscate them.

Gun owners are well aware that your idea would do little to solve the problem so then you would pass a law banning and confiscating all semi-auto firearms. That is called the "slippery slope" by gun owners as they believe that the ultimate goal of the gun control movement is the total disarmament of all American citizens accomplished in small incremental steps.

The overwhelming majority of gun owners and their voting family members will oppose any effort to ban and confiscate a popular class of firearms knowing that it is merely the first step. They WILL show up at the voting booth to vote against anyone who supports such an idea.

In the recent past many good Democrats lost their seats in state governments and at the congressional level over this issue. Some experts believe that Democrats lost two Presidential elections over the gun control issue.

In the last 10 years the Democratic Party has largely ignored the gun control issue and we have been able to elect representatives to Congress and put Obama in office for two terms. Returning to supporting draconian gun laws could possibly cost us seats in the House and the Senate during the midterm election and possibly insure the election of a Republican President in four years. In fact a push for strong gun control might enable the Tea Party to regain its momentum.

Another assault weapons ban faces a difficult path in today's congress as almost all Republicans would oppose this bill ban and many Democrats from Red states would be hesitant to risk their political career over this issue. If one does pass it will probably be so watered down that it will be no more effective than the last ban.

Of course I might be wrong and I admit that gun control does enjoy strong support from the media which is happy to distort and even lie about the issue. However I fear the damage to the Democratic Party may prove irreversible and the results will put the Republican Party back in change.

I know a lot of gun owners who agree with me on most issues but absolutely refuse to vote for a Democrat because of the gun control issue. In the last ten years gun control hasn't been a serious issue and gun owners may not have been as enthusiastic about voting.

The NRA has been seen as the big bully that stops gun control but it only has 4.5 million members. Some recent news reports have stated that the NRA is gaining 8000 members a day. If you think that they are powerful today imagine how powerful the NRA would be if it doubled or tripled in size.

I'm a gun owner but I am also a Democrat. Our party is making real headway on a number of issues. For example we have a start to finally getting a good health care system for all in our nation.

I do feel we can make some progress and change existing gun laws to better insure that only honest responsible citizens can buy them. However if we overreach we may lose not only on gun control but also many other extremely important issues.

Time will tell.