MORE ON THE AFTERMATH OF THE BAN

The liar speaks: "Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry said [Monday] that President Bush was directly responsible for terrorists and murderers who try to buy AK-47s and other assault weapons at US gun shows and stores or who move into unsuspecting neighborhoods. Kerry, who has accused Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of using the threat of terrorism to scare Americans into reelecting them, used some of his darkest language to date as he came to a working-class Washington neighborhood to mark the end of the decade-old ban on assault weapons. Surrounded by police officers and victims of gun violence, Kerry accused Bush of caving into the gun lobby and not asking his congressional allies to extend the ban, which the Republican endorsed during the 2000 campaign."


The whine continues: "The federal semi-automatic assault weapons ban ended Monday, but groups are preparing to lobby for a state restriction on the firearms. Gun control advocates argue that Capitol Hill's failure to reinstate the 10-year ban puts greater pressure on states to pick up the slack. 'When the ban is lifted, you will have an increase in accessibility. Increase in accessibility means that you have an increased probability that these guns are going to be used in our schools,' said Chris Boyster of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. 'These guns are going to be used in our streets.'


Good riddance: "Perhaps the most pathetic attempt to spin the law's demise came from a list of medical organizations claiming in a September 7 press release that gun violence (public-health-speak for armed hoodlums on the job) is 'an ongoing home-security problem.' Nice try. ... As the assault-weapon panic fades, gun-control activists will find another kind of gun to demonize. In fact, they already have. On California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk lies a bill to ban .50 caliber rifles, a target rifle fancied by well-to-do hobbyists. Gun controllers have ginned up a myth of .50-caliber rifles as the new weapon of choice for terrorists, just as assault weapons were supposedly preferred by criminals."


Nibbling away at liberty: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed into law a gun control measure restricting the sale and ownership of a powerful rifle critics said might be used by terrorists. His signature on AB 50, by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, came hours after the Republican-led Congress allowed the nation's assault weapons ban to expire, and as Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry used the lapsed ban to attack President Bush on the campaign trail. ... The California measure adds .50-caliber BMG rifles to the state's list of so-called assault weapons and bans the sale of .50 BMG ammunition. Those who already own the rifles would be required to register with the state. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is on record as a gun control advocate although he had not publicly taken an early position on Koretz's measure."