Another federal ban on so-called "assault weapons?"--I seriously doubt it

Many of the anti-gun extremists would like to believe that with the recent big gains made by the Democrats in the recent elections, lots of new gun restrictions are right around the corner. Sounds like wishful thinking on their part, to me. It also seems that in more honest moments, even the hardcore anti-gun bigots find themselves forced to acknowledge that reality. For example, Paul Helmke (Brady Bunch president) admits a new "assault weapons" ban is not likely:

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said he has seen a list of the top 100 Democratic priorities; reinstating the now-expired ban on military-style assault weapons is "in the 90s." At least, he said, conservatives can't weaken gun-control laws.

It looks as if the Democrats are finally starting to learn that restrictive gun laws are a losing proposition.

Many of the victorious Democrats won on decidedly pro-gun platforms. Senator-elect Jon Tester, for example, is about as pro-gun rights as one could ask for:

Tester said he opposed the Brady Bill - a federal law that requires a background check for everyone buying a handgun.

Tester said he would oppose any efforts to bring back bans on assault weapons.

Both men also said they favored doing away with a 1986-passed cap on the number of fully automatic weapons available for sale. At that time, Congress limited the number of fully automatic guns - guns that will fire as long as the trigger is pressed - to those in circulation in 1986. Since then, the price of these limited weapons has gone up. However, civilian police forces are exempt from the cap, and recently Congress allowed certain military contractors to be exempt from the 1986 cap, too.

The anti-gun thugs don't like to talk about that.

Even some prominent members of anti-gun rights groups admit that the expired ban on so-called "assault weapons" accomplished nothing along the lines of its ostensible goals. Tom Diaz, of the Violence Policy Center:

"If the existing assault weapons ban expires, I personally do not believe it will make one whit of difference one way or another" in "reducing death and injury."

Civilian disarmament is moving from the realm of being a pet issue of the Democratic Party, to being the issue of an increasingly isolated radical fringe group of anti-gun extremists. The more stridently they scream, the more they expose how out of touch they are.