tinfoilhats.org

I'd like to show a couple of quotes. First off, a nice one from John Kerry's website: johnkerry.com

Supports the Second Amendment & Will Defend Hunting Rights – John Kerry is a gun owner and he believes in the right to bear arms. During his announcement speech, Kerry emphasized his strong belief in the Second Amendment by saying bluntly: “I’m a hunter and I believe in the Second Amendment.” Additionally, Kerry has sad he will work to defend hunting rights. “I enjoy going hunting. I'm prepared to stand up and defend common sense on guns.” [Kerry Remarks at Mt. Pleasant, SC 9/2/03; ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 11/10/02]

Now, I'm not one to doubt Senator Kerry's sincerity on being a hunter. I would wonder about how common sense on guns includes banning them because they look scary, like the current "Assault Weapons Ban" does, and like what the extension of said ban by the Feinstein Amendment (vote) would have done. Really, I feel that the information is out there, and most any reasonable person will realize that the '94 AWB is bad and should not be renewed. This post is not about that. For the record, I hold his vote for the AWB renewal against him(and that is a for-sure-lose-my-vote thing.) I'm not a single issue voter, but there are a few things that will make me not vote for a person. The AWB renewal is one of them.

And, from Senator Kennedy's speach on an amendment that he proposed to s1805 (roll call vote)

Another rifle caliber, the 30.30 caliber, was responsible for penetrating three officers' armor and killing them in 1993, 1996, and 2002. This ammunition is also capable of puncturing light-armored vehicles, ballistic or armored glass, armored limousines, even a 600-pound safe with 600 pounds of safe armor plating.

So I started wondering, what is the most common hunting cartridge(rifle)? Well, a little bit off looking shows that there are lots of choices, but Chuck Hawksrates 30-30 as the 5th most popular hunting cartridge. Well, what about the guns that shoot it? Are they the scary "Assault Weapons"? Not that I can tell. Will it go through body armor? Well, if it is soft body armor, the answer is yes. Body armor will only do so much. Page 2 of this study explains the different types of armor that exist, and this page does an excellent job of explaining it.

Senator Kennedy has expressed a desire to ban the 5th most popular hunting cartridge in the country(and .308 and .223 are on that list as well, both of which are quite popular with hunters, and the amendment would include .30-06 as well.) That's a lot of hunting rifles that he doesn't think we need. So, I think we can assume that Senator Kennedy is not interested in upholding 2nd amendment rights, or even hunting rights(those are two different things, please remember that.) An amendment to a bill, which would ban .308, .223, .30-06, .30-30, and others at the discretion of the attorney general. Well, we can still hunt with the 12-guage, right? This seems to me to be an agregious breach of trust. Maybe Senator Kennedy just isn't familiar with what he's speaking about. Maybe the rest of us are just over-reacting to what this amendment would do. After all, why shouldn't the AG be able to regulate what kinds of ammunition I can have(that's a rhetorical question.)

So, how does this tie in with Kerry the hunter? Right here, in the pages of the senate. About half-way down that page, you'll see the vote on s2619. Normally, I would point to the roll call vote but that doesn't seem to be there for this one, I may have to track down who to contact about that. There it is, in black and white. A vote for the Kennedy amendment, that would make most hunting cartridges illegal. Sounds like Senator Kerry isn't so big on protecting the rights of hunters after-all.

None of the other senators who voted for it are either, apparently. Right, Senator Levin? Right, Senator Stabenow?

I can only assume that either disarming the citizens is these people's goal, or that they just don't understand what they are voting on. Or perhaps the party line is more important than individual values that their constituants might have elected them because of. Whatever the cause, I don't want these people representing me. The oath they swore to uphold the constitution applies to the 2nd amendment as well, and the 2nd amendment applies to a whole lot more than hunting.