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What is Undisputed:
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September 7, 2004 - John Kerry is
presented a shotgun at United Mine Workers
Labor Day picnic in Racine, West Virginia. The shotgun is a
Remington 11--87 12 gauge. The maximum MSRP of an 11-87 in wood is
$899.
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Current federal law allows a gift
transfer with no background check. But there are restrictions on
this. If neither the giver nor receiver are on their home state when
the transaction occurs, the transaction requires a form 4473 and
thereby an FFL transfer. Otherwise federal law has been broken.
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If this was an FFL transfer, current
federal law allows out-of-state transfers of long guns only to
people in contiguous states. This would mean that an FFL transfer of
a long gun to a Massachusetts resident would be illegal.
What Happened:
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Drudge
announces that Kerry is waving a gun that he wanted to have banned
by Senate Bill 1431, which he cosponsored (available
here). The basis of the statement is
the section related to pistol grips.
-
The Kerry
campaign immediately posts a rebuttal (available
here). It says that Kerry would never support banning this gun
and he has always supported the Second Amendment.
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The
National Shooting
Sports Foundation issues a press release
here.
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And finally, the
Remington Arms
Company issues a press release stating that they have not
endorsed any candidate and were not involved with the event.
What is the Real Truth?
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Drudge is correct. The Remington 11-87
has a feature that could be used as a grip. In addition to this, the
11-87 is commonly used by the police and some in the military. This
second condition means that the 11-87 would be presumed to be a
'semiautomatic assault weapon' by SB 1431.
-
Either this was an FFL transfer and
would be illegal under existing law or it was a private transfer and
SB 1431 would have made illegal the private transfer of the firearm.
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The Kerry campaign fails to address
the specifics of the allegations in the Drudge article.
Kerry's voting record on gun control
shows a candidate diametrically opposed to statements made in the
campaign press release.
-
The National Shooting Sports
Foundation points out that:
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Kerry voted against the very union
presenting him the shotgun by voting against a bill to end
frivolous lawsuits against firearms makers - SB 659.
-
Remington was not involved with
Kerry and goes further to say "In fact, the company remains
amused by ongoing photos of Senator Kerry shooting without
either ear or eye protection while discharging a firearm."
Update 09/20/04:
How does this end up?
The Kerry campaign does produce one gem of
truth in its press release. "West
Virginians deserve to hear the truth."
Unfortunately, the campaign fails to provide the
truth and
attempts to camouflage lies in pompous rhetoric.
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