Assault Weapons Ban Houston Post January 27, 1995 GOP Leaders put off bid to repeal gun ban ----------------------------------------- Texas Democrat says they're chickening out by Kathy Kiely, Houston Post Washington Bureau ============================================== WASHINGTON-- House Republican leaders decided Thursday to put off efforts to repeal last year's controversial ban on assault weapons, prompting one Texas lawmaker to accuse them of chickening out. Rep. Jim Chapman, a Sulphur Springs Democrat who is one of the leaders of the effort to overturn the ban on the sale of 19 types of assault weapons, said Republicans are betraying the interest of gunowners in order to keep President Clinton from gaining a political advantage. "They do not want him to be able to use the gun issue," he said. "It's perceived to be a loser for them nationally." "It's clear the Republicans are back-tracking big time," Chapman said. The chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, the largest association of gunowners in the country, said she supports House Speaker Newt Gingrich's plan to hold hearings on the assault weapons ban beginning next month. The hearings will focus on "why the gun ban doesn't work" and how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has become "a rogue agency," according to NRA lobbyist Tanya Metaksa. Metaksa said the hearings would set the stage for passage of a bill overturning the assault weapons ban later this year. But Chapman said it is a mistake not to push for an early vote on the gun ban repeal. "I'm afraid Gingrich has been whispering in the ear of the NRA," he said. Well-placed sources acknowledged Thursday Republican leaders did not want the divisive gun issue to come up while they are trying to make the 100-day deadline for passage of their contract with America. Gun control opponents have been pushing for an early vote. More than 58 members, many of them Democrats, already have signed on to Chapman's bill to repeal the assault weapons ban. A slightly different repeal bill is being circulated by another Texan, Rep. Steve Stockman, D-Friendswood. <<>>> With a strong bipartisan coalition already forming to repeal the assault weapons ban--which only passed the House by one vote last year--President Clinton has made it clear he is spoiling for a high-profile fight over the emotionally charged issue. "I will not let it be repealed," he declared in his State of the Union address earlier this week. =================================================================== Flash forward to November 1996 banner headline: LARGEST REPUBLICAN LANDSLIDE SINCE REAGAN IN 81 PUTS GOP IN CONTROL OF HOUSE AND SENATE. CLINTON ONLY ABLE TO GATHER 12% OF POPULAR VOTE, DEMOCRATS SWEPT FROM STATE LEGIS...... You get the picture! ... REPEALTHEBANrepealthebanREPEALTHEBANrepealthebanREPEALTHEBANrepealtheb --- Blue Wave/TAG v2.12 * Origin: Brigadoon! (PR_NET/TX) 409-321-4637 Conroe, TX (176:200/20) 0SEEN-BY: 100/50 200 300 525 801 200/0 1 3 6 7 10 16 19 20 24 26 30 31 36 37 39 0SEEN-BY: 200/100 271/145 280/70 300/100 400/2 4 6 8 13 15 16 17 19 22 24 28 29 0SEEN-BY: 400/32 34 35 100 500/100 0PATH: 200/20 0 100/50 400/100