23 State Attorneys General To Attorney General Holder: "No Semi-Auto Ban"

[Andy in NH]

Please take the time and thank the NH Attorney General for her support on this.

The Honorable Kelly A. Ayotte
New Hampshire Attorney General
33 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301

Telephone (603) 271-3658
_________________________________________________________________

Friday, June 12, 2009

On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.

"We share the Obama Administration's commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans' access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems," the letter said.

The letter notes congressional opposition to bringing back the ban, and calls for increasing enforcement of existing laws.

We encourage NRA members to let these state officials know we appreciate them standing up to the incessant clamor for gun control that is currently coming from anti-gun groups and their media allies.

The 23 state Attorneys General, in alphabetical order, by state, are:

Arkansas – The Honorable Dustin McDaniel
Alabama - The Honorable Troy King
Colorado - The Honorable John W. Suthers
Florida - The Honorable Bill McCollum
Georgia - The Honorable Thurbert E. Baker
Idaho - The Honorable Lawrence G. Wasden
Kansas - The Honorable Steve Six
Kentucky - The Honorable Jack Conway
Louisiana - The Honorable James D. Caldwell
Michigan - The Honorable Mike Cox
Missouri - The Honorable Chris Koster
Montana - The Honorable Steve Bullock
Oklahoma - The Honorable W.A. Edmonson
Nebraska - The Honorable Jon Bruning
Nevada - The Honorable Catherine Cortez Masto
New Hampshire - The Honorable Kelly A. Ayotte
North Dakota - The Honorable Wayne Stenehjem
South Carolina - The Honorable Henry McMaster
South Dakota - The Honorable Lawrence Long
Texas - The Honorable Greg Abbott
Utah - The Honorable Mark L. Shurtleff
Wisconsin – The Honorable J.B. Van Hollen
Wyoming - The Honorable Bruce A. Salzburg

To read the letter in its entirety, please click here.




.

 

[GLOCK.Perfection]

wait, The Honorable Coakley didn't sign on?

 

[Palladin]

wait, The Honorable Cadillac Deval didn't sign on?

it would have been Martha, not Caddy

 

[Arioch]

I'm not surprised that MA didn't participate, but what about ME and VT? I may have to reconsider my decision to include ME in the limited number of states I'm willing to move to.

 

[GLOCK.Perfection]

it would have been Martha, not Caddy

wow thats a big mistake there. my bad.

 

[strangenh]

Other than NH, nothing on the Atlantic north of South Carolina. Wow.

Atty. General Ayotte deserves serious kudos for having both the understanding and fortitude to take this stance.

 

[steveyc272]

wow thats a big mistake there. my bad.

Your right, putting "Honorable" in front of Deval is a HUGE mistake

 

[lord1234]

+rep for being awesome. to the OP and the AG's who have balls.

 

[USMA-82]

+rep for being awesome. to the OP and the AG's who have balls.

...even the AG's without the aforementioned balls.

 

[theGringo]

Other than NH, nothing on the Atlantic north of South Carolina. Wow.

Atty. General Ayotte deserves serious kudos for having both the understanding and fortitude to take this stance.

State officials in the northeast, unlike those in the south and west, generally attended very prestigious colleges. Think that might have something to do with it? Yup, a real brain trust, the northeast.

 

[wmccurdy53]

I'm kinda surprised Vermont is not on the list.

 

[JimB]

not suprised

Martha didn't sign on, Dubious Duvalwouldn't like it and Martha would have
to have had an original thought.

JimB

 

[strangenh]

I'm kinda surprised Vermont is not on the list.

There are a lot of remarkable absences - TN, VA, NC, WV, AZ, NM, IA, AK...

 

[BenDover]

Twenty-three AGs tell Holder no dice on semi-auto ban renewal

dont think its a dupe...

http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m6d15-Twentythree-AGs-tell-Holder-no-dice-on-semiauto-ban-renewal

 

[Rockrivr1]

SHOCKING that the MA AG didn't send a letter.

 

[Big_Red]

With the exception of NH there are no other New England AGs listed. That's plain shameful.

 

[Bob P]

I'm dissapointed by VT's conspicuous absence.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

I was also expecting Vermont and possibly Maine

 

[Admin]

SHOCKING that the MA AG didn't send a letter.

That's because she's a gutless coward.

 

[strangenh]

Whoops. Placeholder misfire. That Examiner article is timely, given the GAO report the WSJ just commented on:

http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=69538

 

[Big_Red]

That's because she's a gutless coward.

NOOOO, NOT HERRRRR....remember...it's for the children....

 

[Titan]

For me to understand why some signed on, and some expected did not, I'd need to understand the political affiliation of those who signed on.

In other words, was this the product of Republican AGs only?
If it's a completely partisan venture, it's easier to understand why some 'expected' states didn't sign on. That would also impact how the letter is processed by the Administration.

It will be totally discounted if they're all Republicans. It has a MUCH greater chance of having a real impact, if the AGs involved represent both parties.


My guess is that, since the Dems seem to have a vice grip on their members (maintained through implicit threats of excoriation for anyone who veers off message), it's probably a largely Republican letter.


I'd love to see folks with backbone, from both parties, taking a stand on behalf of the rights of the citizenry.
.

 

[economist]

There are a lot of remarkable absences - TN, VA, NC, WV, AZ, NM, IA, AK...

Not sure about the others, but Iowa is not particularly gun-friendly. As a Missouri native, I have never had the desire to go north. Nice to see MO on the list of signees.

 

[strangenh]

Not sure about the others, but Iowa is not particularly gun-friendly. As a Missouri native, I have never had the desire to go north.

Hunh. Didn't know that. Tell me more? I know their CCW permit issuance is county-dependent, with sheriffs having MAY-issue discretion, but otherwise it seems like a pretty gun-friendly place to me. Of course, the closest I've been to IA is Illinois, which is very gun-friendly, if you don't count the registration of owners, no CC licensing at all, no class-III weapons, home rule allowing counties or large towns to pass their own bans which you can break by accident because there's no peaceable travel law, and the dominance of state politics by Chicago-area anti-gun politicians.

Still, the number of surprisingly-missing states from the list is disappointing whether or not one "should" expect IA to be on there.

 

[ArmedMainer]

I was also expecting Vermont and possibly Maine

I'm shocked Maine isn't on the list. I don't know anyone who lives in Maine who DOESN'T own at least one firearm.

 

[economist]

Hunh. Didn't know that. Tell me more? I know their CCW permit issuance is county-dependent, with sheriffs having MAY-issue discretion, but otherwise it seems like a pretty gun-friendly place to me.

That's enough "unfriendly" for me. Plus, no reciprocity with MO, which (a) recognizes any state ccw permit, and (b) is recognized by every contiguous state (and many others) except Iowa and Nebraska (edit to add, "and Illinois", which really doesn't count given how terrible it is for gun owners). (map here)

 

[amcaloon31]

For me to understand why some signed on, and some expected did not, I'd need to understand the political affiliation of those who signed on.

In other words, was this the product of Republican AGs only?
If it's a completely partisan venture, it's easier to understand why some 'expected' states didn't sign on. That would also impact how the letter is processed by the Administration.

It will be totally discounted if they're all Republicans. It has a MUCH greater chance of having a real impact, if the AGs involved represent both parties.


My guess is that, since the Dems seem to have a vice grip on their members (maintained through implicit threats of excoriation for anyone who veers off message), it's probably a largely Republican letter.


I'd love to see folks with backbone, from both parties, taking a stand on behalf of the rights of the citizenry.
.

Great point....so i googled the first 5 and 2 were Dems and 3 Republicans...seems like a bi-partisan effort.

 

[Titan]

Great. Thanks for checking.

I'll also poke around with the list and check some others.
.

 

[SteelShooter]

23 State Attorneys General To Attorney General Holder: "No Semi-Auto Ban"

BREAKING NEWS FROM WH SPIN ROOM- Attorney General Holder now says he has a mandate to move forward with the Semi-Auto ban. In a landslide majority 54% of the states did not agree with the recent letter sent by a minority of State Attorneys General. Holder reportedly said "It's a great day for the children, we can now rid society of these evil weapons of mass destruction forever." Holder plans on pushing his bill through as soon as possible.

sarcasm off/

 

[Titan]

I checked the affiliations of all of the AGs involved.

The following states that 'signed on' have Democrat AGs...
Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Nevada, Wyoming

Therefore...13 Republicans (57%), 10 Democrats (43%).


To my great surprise, this is fairly bipartisan, but as has been pointed out, it sure makes it look like all of the other 27 AGs favor an AWB, since they didn't sign the letter.

.