Spintested

The weapon used was purchased legally. The weapon was one that had been banned during the 1990s, but that law expired in 2004 and Giffords supported ending the ban. She supports gun rights, opposed the Washington DC gun ban, and signed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court in support of overturning the ban.

The roll call vote in the Senate on the (Dianne) Feinstein amendment to extend the ban, March 2, 2004. Russ Feingold lovers, note his "nay" vote, as well as other Democrats still serving, like Harry Reid, Mary Landrieu, Tim Johnson (not voting), Ben Nelson, Max Baucus.

In 2007, Representative Carolyn Maloney's bill to reinstate the ban with 67 co-sponsors (Giffords was not among them), went nowhere.

HR 6257 (a bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons, for ten years) was introduced in June 2008, and then got buried in a House subcommittee one month later, where it d!ed at the end of that Congress (2008).

After Obama and Democrats won the 2008 elections and took control of the White House and Congress, Dianne Feinstein said in April 2009 about introducing legislation in the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, "I wouldn't bring it up now."

Obama has stated that he wouldn't push for the reinstatement of the Assault Weapons Ban. He supports ratifying CIFTA, an inter-American treaty to curb international small arms trafficking.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are willing to take on the gvn lobby (or any corporate industry), nor spend the money on the prevention side (funding for mental health treatment, public education and social safety nets, etc.).

So across America, the fight (& gridlock) continues.

If I had to bet right now, I'd say what is going to come out of this are more draconian laws to ban speech and privacy rights (all of said legislation will be used for drug crimes and political groups working to unseat the entrenched corporate power, and not crimes of 'terr0r').