Kerry in Outdoor Life

Replies / Questions

I support extending the assault weapons ban. The weapons that are the subject of this ban are not used for hunting, and extending this ban will not infringe on the rights of any Americans to hunt, including those who hunt with semi-automatic shotguns. It will, however, help police deal with the violence that we are witnessing in too many American cities. Today, one in five law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty is killed with an assault weapon. Innocent citizens continue to be caught in automatic weapon crossfire on city streets. Simply put, I stand with the police officers who have called for extending the ban. Police officers who put their lives on the line every day should not be outgunned by the criminals they are seeking to stop.

1) The Second Amendment says nothing about the rights of the citizens to hunt.

2) If Kerry has no problem with people hunting with semiautomatic shotguns, why does he want to outlaw them? See Senate Bill 1431.

3) The police officers that Kerry so loves to reference are the leadership of some of the large cities. They are more politician than actual policeman. Rank and file policemen are rarely heard from, but generally seem to be against the AWB.

4) The AWB has nothing to do with the automatic weapons that Kerry makes reference to. They have been heavily regulated since the National Firearms Act of 1934.

Final: If the police do not wish to be outgunned 1) enforce the existing laws and put the criminals away and 2) better arm the police. During the infamous LA bank robbery shootout, the police were lent firearms by a local gun shop because their leadership did not properly equip them. Make those guns illegal and they won't be around to lend.

As a hunter and a gun owner, I believe that law-abiding American adults have the right to own firearms. As President, I will defend the Second Amendment right of law-abiding American adults to own firearms.

If law-abiding gun citizens have the right to own guns, why do you vote against our gun rights at every opportunity?

How can a Senator who wishes to defend the Second Amendment support the AWB that outlaws meaningless features on rifles, such as bayonet lugs? How can you support a bill that even the Violence Policy Center has admitted had no real effect?

In cases where firearms are criminally misused, the blame should be placed on the person perpetrating the crime. However, in the few cases where it is clear that a gun dealer is consistently selling guns to criminals, gun manufacturers should exercise common sense and stop supplying those dealers. For example, 1.2 percent of licensed gun dealers supply 57 percent of the firearms recovered from criminals. In such cases, if a gun manufacturer knows that this dealer is supplying criminals and yet continues to sell guns to the dealer, then it is fair to hold the manufacturer accountable for this behavior, which is endangering public safety.

Federal and state laws strictly control the distribution and sale of firearms. The existing laws provide procedures to validate or invalidate a purchaser.

If an FFL is failing to follow lawful procedures, there are already remedies in the law.

If an FFL is correctly following lawful procedure and a purchaser passes all of the checks dictated by federal and state laws, how is a gun shop employee supposed to know he is dealing with a criminal? If the criminal lies on a 4473, there are already remedies in existing law to prosecute.

Manufacturers do not even deal with stores at the retail level generally. Distributors deal with the stores and are aware of retail customer's activities even less than the store is.

Holding distributors and manufacturers liable for the actions of customers would be like suing GM for a drunk driving accident. The trial lawyers would love it because the deeper pockets are up the supply chain, but there is no justice in doing so.

Hunting is a very viable and practical means of controlling wildlife populations. It is used extensively by professional wildlife managers in state game-and-fish agencies to achieve ideal population levels and minimize human-wildlife conflicts. It is one of the main reasons why the decline in active hunters is so troubling.

The Humane Society of the United States gives Kerry a 100% rating. Their stated goal is to end sport hunting. Between his anti-gun and anti-hunting positions, perhaps Senator Kerry should be a little introspective about the reason for the decline in hunting.

My favorite gun is the M-16 that saved my life and that of my crew in Vietnam. I don’t own one of those now, but one of my reminders of my service is a Communist Chinese assault rifle.

So the favorite gun that he actually owns is a gun that he says is too dangerous for normal citizens to own. Update: He doesn't actually own the mentioned 'Communist Chinese assault rifle'. Kerry did not actually do this interview. As a matter of fact, there was no interview. There were submitted questions answered by campaign staff. See above.