assault weapon Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Voting and Assault Weapons

President Bill Clinton was right when he said, “A great democracy does not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon.”

From TP:

While Clinton also called on America to implement health care reform and invest in science and education, the gun line elicited the biggest controversy, leading Alex Seitz-Wald to fact-check the claim. As it turns out, Clinton is correct: individuals can buy assault weapons without showing identification in more than 30 states, while federal law prohibits states from allowing individuals to vote without some form of identification. In recent years, 13 states have passed stricter voter ID requirements and half a dozen more are considering voter suppression measures in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling invalidating a key section of the Voting Rights Act.

In fact, a ThinkProgress analysis found that anyone can obtain assault rifles from unlicensed dealers at gun shows or online without a background check in 39 states. Zero states allow people to vote without some proof of identification:

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington – Clinton’s Speech

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. President Clinton’s speech

Although I liked Obama’s speech, he really didn’t bring the fire. He gave his scholarly speech. It was Bill Clinton who consistently can bring it. The take home line from the March in my opinion was “But a great democracy does not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon.” As matter of fact he had several lines which are worth repeating –

Dr. King’s dream of interdependence, his prescription of wholehearted cooperation across racial lines — they ring as true today as they did 50 years ago. Oh, yes, we face terrible political gridlock now. Read a little history; it’s nothing new. Yes, there remain racial inequalities in employment, income, health, wealth, incarceration, and in the victims and perpetrators of violent crime. But we don’t face beatings, lynchings and shootings for our political beliefs anymore. And I would respectfully suggest that Martin Luther King did not live and die to hear his heirs whine about political gridlock. It is time to stop complaining and put our shoulders against the stubborn gates holding the American people back.

And he went on to say –

We cannot relax in our efforts to implement health care reform in a way that ends discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions — one of which is inadequate income to pay for rising health care — (applause) — a health care reform that will lower costs and lengthen lives; nor can we stop investing in science and technology to train our young people of all races for the jobs of tomorrow; and to act on what we learn about our bodies, our businesses and our climate. We must push open those stubborn gates.