State Attorneys General send Letter to Holder Re: AWB

[maestro pistolero]

This letter reinforces and re-affirms the recent letter from congressional leaders which urged Holder to focus his time and energy on enforcing existing gun laws. Please contact your Attorney General, if he or she is a signer, and thank them for their support of the Second Amendment.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/ne...0/posts?page=1

[JDTech]

Your link is blocked by my server any chance you could copy paste it here for us?

[CowTowner]

****THIS IS COPIED FROM THE WWW.FREEREPUBLIC.COM WEBSITE****
I didn't write it and don't claim it to be factual. I'm just helping JDTech because his servers won't allow access to the site.


23 State Attorneys General To Attorney General Holder: "No Semi-Auto Ban"

Friday, June 12, 2009


On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.

"We share the Obama Administration's commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans' access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems," the letter said.

The letter notes congressional opposition to bringing back the ban, and calls for increasing enforcement of existing laws.

We encourage NRA members to let these state officials know we appreciate them standing up to the incessant clamor for gun control that is currently coming from anti-gun groups and their media allies.

The 23 state Attorneys General, in alphabetical order, by state, are:

Arkansas – The Honorable Dustin McDaniel
Alabama - The Honorable Troy King
Colorado - The Honorable John W. Suthers
Florida - The Honorable Bill McCollum
Georgia - The Honorable Thurbert E. Baker
Idaho - The Honorable Lawrence G. Wasden
Kansas - The Honorable Steve Six
Kentucky - The Honorable Jack Conway
Louisiana - The Honorable James D. Caldwell
Michigan - The Honorable Mike Cox
Missouri - The Honorable Chris Koster
Montana - The Honorable Steve Bullock
Oklahoma - The Honorable W.A. Edmonson
Nebraska - The Honorable Jon Bruning
Nevada - The Honorable Catherine Cortez Masto
New Hampshire - The Honorable Kelly A. Ayotte
North Dakota - The Honorable Wayne Stenehjem
South Carolina - The Honorable Henry McMaster
South Dakota - The Honorable Lawrence Long
Texas - The Honorable Greg Abbott
Utah - The Honorable Mark L. Shurtleff
Wisconsin – The Honorable J.B. Van Hollen
Wyoming - The Honorable Bruce A. Salzburg

The link to the complete PDF file is:
http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/Sem...tter061109.pdf

[Playboypenguin]

I would have liked to see some states on there besides New Hampshire that were not southern or midwest states. This could very easily be seen as another example of the west and northeast versus the south and midwest. I hate it when lines get drawn that decisively since that is a battle that cannot be won because of the vast population and wealth difference between those divisions.

[maestro pistolero]

I would have liked to see some states on there besides New Hampshire that were not southern or midwest states. This could very easily be seen as another example of the west and northeast versus the south and midwest. I hate it when lines get drawn that decisively since that is a battle that cannot be won because of the vast population and wealth difference between those divisions.

True enough, but still, 46 percent of all AGs felt strongly enough to sign on. Roughly the same percentage of folks who did not vote for this administration. It wouldn't take many fence straddlers to have a majority of them, not that AGs get to decide the issue in any case. Which bring up the question, how much juice do state AGs really have with the Feds? I'm guessing this is purely political/moral support for the cause. Still, I'm happy to have their support.

[Mike Irwin]

I'm surprised Virginia's AG didn't sign on. He's running for election, though, so he was probably too timid.

I'm also rather disgusted that Pennsylvania's AG didn't sign on, but I'm really not all that surprised. That state is going to hell faster than I ever thought possible, but with Ed Rendell being one of Satan's politiacal imps, the door is wide open...

[grymster2007]

I'm shocked that California's Gerry Brown didn't sign on. Think I'll ask his office why.

[hogdogs]

PBP, You callin' us southerners PO'?
We are, I admit... but are you callin us that?
Brent

[JDTech]

for the copy and paste

[ftd]

Mike,
Bob McDonnell resigned as Virginia AG early this year to run for gov. The current AG, Bill Mims, was elected by the General Assembly this February to complete the term ending Jan, 2010. I don't know exactly where he stands on guns, but he probably thought it not prudent to make political waves in an election year that he is not participating in. I have emailed Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for AG, asking his take on the AG letter. Ken is a pretty avid 2A supporter, but I will be surprised if he responds beyond saying how very much he supports gun rights - public endorsment of the AG letter would become a significant campaign issue in a state that is basically evenly divided red/blue. The whole Republican ticket will probably be endorsed by all pro-gun groups in Virginia anyway, so there would be little to no gain by his getting involved and could hurt with swing voters. I'll let you know what he replies.

By the way, Ken is from your neck of the woods (I almost forgot that Northern Virginia is actually part of the Commonwealth), so maybe you know him.

[cbrgator]

Which bring up the question, how much juice do state AGs really have with the Feds? I'm guessing this is purely political/moral support for the cause. Still, I'm happy to have their support.

They have some, but sort of indirectly. The AG's are State CLEO's and thus responsible for enforcing the law. They could choose to NOT enforce laws such as AWB's and force the feds to come in and do it themselves. Think of the marijuana growhouse raids by the feds in California. The AG doesn't have a great direct effect, but could create a big inconvenience in the federal executive agencies, in this case the ATF.

[USAFNoDak]

Minnesota's AG, Lori Swanson didn't sign, though Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota were represented by their Attorneys General. I sent Ms. Swanson a letter with a copy of the letter sent to Holder, asking her why she wasn't one of the signatores. It should be interesting if I get a response. She doesn't have an email address that I could find, so I'm snail mailing it to her office.

Here's the body of my letter:

Dear Attorney General Lori Swanson;
Recently, twenty three of our states’ Attorneys General signed and sent a letter to the United States Attorney General, Eric Holder. I have included a copy of this letter for your review, in case you were not aware of it.

This letter was signed by the Attorneys General of several of our neighboring states including Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. I would like to inquire as to why you were not included on the list of Attorney’s General who signed and sent this letter to the United States Attorney General. Were you unaware of this effort by the other Attorneys General who signed the letter? Are you in favor of reinstating the assault weapons ban to prevent law abiding US and Minnesota citizens from owning certain types of semi-automatic firearms?

I would appreciate your response and explanation as to why Minnesota was not represented on the attached letter.


Sincerely,

XXXX XXXX

Concerned Citizen of the State of Minnesota

[Ejh28]

I live in Michigan which is an overwhelmingly Blue state and I'm glad that we have Mike Cox as our AG. He's done a great job here, and I plan to vote for him when he runs for Governor.

[Webleymkv]

I would have liked to see some states on there besides New Hampshire that were not southern or midwest states. This could very easily be seen as another example of the west and northeast versus the south and midwest. I hate it when lines get drawn that decisively since that is a battle that cannot be won because of the vast population and wealth difference between those divisions

While that's true to a point, there are several blue states whose AG's sent letters. Wisconsin (one of only two states with no CCW at all) and Michigan are two notable examples as is Nevada (home state of Harry Reid). While the states you mention such as California and New York certainly carry a great deal of weight, George W. Bush getting elected twice demonstrates that both parties need at least some support from Midwestern, Western, and Southern states in order to advance their agendas. What this really shows is the division that exists within the Democratic Party: while you still have the traditional Liberal Democrats from the Northeast and West Coast, an increasing number of Democratic voters are moderate or socially-conservative people from the South, Midwest, and West. Actually, the same divisions exist even within certain states. Good examples include the stark contrasts between the political leanings of NYC vs. upstate New York, Southern vs. Northern California, D.C. area vs. the rest of Virginia, and Chicago vs. downstate Illinois

[Playboypenguin]

while you still have the traditional Liberal Democrats from the Northeast and West Coast, an increasing number of Democratic voters are moderate or socially-conservative people from the South, Midwest, and West.

That is partially because many of the old school republicans like myself that believe in pre-Reagan policies are now having to be considered more democrat than republican because of the far right swing of the GOP but unfortunately the far leftists that are not truly democrats still have a loud voice in the democratic party. The massive hijacking of both parties by the extremes really is going to necessitate a third party soon.

[Webleymkv]

Quote:
while you still have the traditional Liberal Democrats from the Northeast and West Coast, an increasing number of Democratic voters are moderate or socially-conservative people from the South, Midwest, and West.

That is partially because many of the old school republicans like myself that believe in pre-Reagan policies are now having to be considered more democrat than republican because of the far right swing of the GOP.

While that is true, another phenomenon is the gradual leftward movement of the Democratic Party. A prime example of this is my grandfather. He is 84 years old and a staunch Roosevelt/Truman Democrat (I doubt he'll ever vote Republican before he passes on). However, for years the party moved farther and farther left of the ideals that he believes in. The way I see it this leftward movement ultimately cost the Democrats the White House in '80 Congress in '94 and the White House again in '00. What I think we are seeing now is a movement back towards the center in much of the Democratic party in an attempt to regain many of the moderate and socially-conservative voters that they lost over the years.

That being said, it's probably best that we limit our discussion here as I sense we're nearing the edge of what is on topic both for this thread and for L&CR in general though I'd be more than happy to continue in PM if you wish to.