It's John Kerry's fault. I mean it. There would have been no Aurora, no Newtown. I have been thinking about this since Senator Reid announced that an assault weapons ban would not be part of the bill brought to the floor. Why do I say these things? Because we had an assault weapons ban. It also banned high capacity magazines. Now it's gone and it is all John Kerry's fault.
Let me explain. In 2004, the assault weapons ban was expiring. Also, there was an Presidential election. When asked, President Bush said he would sign a renewal of the ban. This was Senator Kerry's opportunity. The Republican controlled Congress was eager to let the ban expire. They would never pass a renewal. The President got to play both sides of the coin. He could sound reasonable by saying he favored legislation he knew would never get to his desk.
Senator Kerry was the Democratic nominee for President. He had the opportunity to call out the President. If the President truly favored renewing the ban on assault weapons, he should call on Congress to get him a bill. If he can't get his own party to get him a bill he wants to sign, then I guess he's not the strong leader we are always told he is. If he doesn't call on Congress to do it, he's lying when he says he favors it.
President Bush was the one who liked to put things in black or white terms- with us or against us. Senator Kerry could have said he's either a strong leader or he's not. He either favors renewal or not. Does anybody think that if President Bush asked for a renewal bill he wouldn't get it? Republicans controlled both houses of congress. They would have had to come up with the bill. Bush never asked for one. He just threw his hands in the air and said if Congress sent him one he'd sign it.
It's a little like Saddam Hussein and WMD. The President said that Saddam had the desire to produce WMD and he had the capacity to make them. Yet he didn't make them. Obviously, he lacked either the desire or the capacity, or both.
If President Bush had the desire to renew the assault weapons ban, he certainly had the capacity. If Senator Kerry had called him out on this, it would have compelled action.