imported post
On the VA alert AWB issue: where that comes from is a recording of a Q & A session Webb was involved with where he got a confusing question: what Webb said was that he saw no reason that fully automatic weapons should normally be in private hands:
So for clarification, I forwarded the audio clip to Jon Paul Lupo, who is the only person in the Webb campaign who has authority to speak for the candidate on matters of policy except the candidate himself: he confirmed to me that Webb does not support the assault weapons ban, and that he is OK with Class III laws which permit private ownership of machine guns if you are willing to go through major expense and rigamarole. That mirrors Allen's position, as I understand it.
Webb owns at least one assault weapon which he told me about. I asked him to lend it to me so that we could put it on the Sportsmen table, but ended up bringing one of my own as a "conversation starter" on Webb's AWB position (I will get you all picks as soon as I find my son's camera).
Allen has been too busy in New Hampshire -- and too much of a lightweight in the Senate to push through CCR -- that is one major reason it is languishing: Webb will not have that problem, is likely to have credibility on this on both sides of the aisle. You can expect Webb to actually work this issue, but I am going to have to ask before I can make any statements about what he will introduce.
Allen has been stronger in his 2A support on a range of issues since 2004, and has some legislative accomplishments he can be proud of. Politically, that was a sound decision for him. But he is a classic windsurfing politico who tends to blow with prevailing gusts, and my guess is that if he is re-elected he is going to blow in the opposite direction on gun control because he needs to show that he is "moderate" enough to be President. By next year (if he is still bent on being everybody's "daddy") we will see something of a repeat of the old flippity flopping Allen of 2000.
That take on Allen depends on a character assessment, however, and I can't prove it. I think I have a better crystal ball than those who think that Webb is going to morph into Chuck Schumer if he gets elected, because such morphing would be completely out of character for Webb and politically inept for anyone who expects to get re-elected in Virginia.
But most people are attached to their own crystal balls.
What you need to ask yourself when you try go about predicting the future like that -- especially when a prediction is character dependent -- is whether what you are seeing in your ball is based on sound analysis or just a reflection of your own biases.
Well I have my biases, and I think I know the difference between vision and reflection as far as this election is concerned. Notwithstanding my biases, I know where Allen is comming down on the bill of rights, civil enforcement, privacy, conservation, and a host of other 2A related issues because he has TOLD us: no crystal ball required:
And that vision is enough to make anybody with constitutional concerns cringe.
The Donkey