McDaniel on assault weapons
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced today he has co-authored a letter expressing opposition to reinstating a federal ban on assault weapons — something President Obama has said he will not seek.
McDaniel says he and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott co-wrote a letter, signed by 21 other state attorneys general, informing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder of their opposition to reinstating the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which banned certain semiautomatic firearms known as “assault weapons” and was allowed to expire in 2004.
Obama pledged during his campaign to seek renewal of the ban, but in April he said he would not seek to revive the ban and would instead seek greater enforcement of existing laws.
McDaniel is expected to run for re-election next year, but he says the letter was not about getting re-elected.
“Our decision was based on the fact that earlier this year there was discussion about the reinstatement of the ban, and we didn’t agree with that. … The discussion of the ban reinstatement was what drove our policy, not my election or General Abbott’s, who is a Republican,” he said.
Tags: Barack Obama, Dustin McDaniel
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 6:34 pm and is filed under General, State, arkansas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
June 14th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Mr McDaniel
I am writing this in hopes you will change your mind, By allowing assault weapons on our streets, you have just made or police officers jobs more dangerous, You have signed their “death certificate” are you proud of that.
This isn’t about re-election, this is about COMMON SENSE and doing the RIGHT THING, what part of allowing assault weapons is either of those?!!!
You have done some great things for the state of Arkansas, however this is the WORST thing you could do for the people of Arkansas., re-think your decision, it is life and death.
A relative of a Washington County Deputy.
Sharon Green
4565 W Weir Road
Fayetteville AR 72704
June 16th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Mr McDaniel.
I just wanted to say, thank you. People have been hunting with semi-automatic rifles since the turn of the 20th century. I have one and I want to keep it. I appreciate you representing firearms owners in this way.
Kindest Regards
Erik Grimm
June 17th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Mr. McDaniel,
Thank you for doing your part in upholding our Second Amendment rights. By co-authoring the letter you are showing COMMON SENSE and you are doing the RIGHT THING. As you are a former police officer (as am I) you know that the hysteria that “assault rifles” kill many police officers is just hype by the anti-gun crowd in an attempt to deny honest citizens their Constitutional rights. Thank you for your honest representation of the citizens of Arkansas. You will always have my support.
Kenny Madison
Rogers, Arkansas
June 26th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Thank you for your dose of common sense. Unfortunately it’s not all that common anymore. It’s a shame that the anti 2nd ammendment rights crowd succeeded in labeling this an “Assault Weapons Ban”, As many of the weapons they seek to prohibit are no where near that description. As a police officer I DO NOT think that you have signed my “Death Warrant”, as the misguided lady said previously. Thank you for standing up to the ASSAULT on our constitutional rights.
June 28th, 2009 at 8:20 am
This article is lacking any details! Why did McDaniel sign this? Did you press him for some answers or did you just run with the headline? All this does is fan the flames on both sides of the debate. How about some real information instead of just scare-formation!
Stephen Black
Prairie Grove