My only comment is that rather than "renew" the assault weapons ban --- they fix it first so it actually *does* what the title says. It was a piece of major junk law (much like, um, the PATRIOT Act and the DMCA .... I'm beginning to think these guys all failed basic writing and they don't read what they sign). The one thing it actually didn't outlaw was .... (ta-dum) assault weapons. A more apt title might have been "The
Ugly Gun Ban".... which was pretty useless and stupid but allowed politicians to shout they had "saved the children" again...
Most people who know anything about firearms will tell you "assault weapons" are fully automatic machine guns, shotguns -- things used to keep the enemy ducking til you get close during an assault of a position. There really is no technical meaning to the phrase and I don't use it. Its basically a 'scare word'.
Having said that (and outed myself a bit as to how I feel about this issue) -- I'd really like to see that "gun show loophole" closed (i.e. requiring an instant background check before sale). I'd like to see more training in the use of firearms: knowledge removes irrationality.
However --- I don't see even that happening until the 2010 mid-term elections pass by.
As far as Lieberman goes, yeah he still commands a lot of influence because of that body count in the Senate.
For a semi-serious moment about Obama, I found this article to make me happy personally about our upcoming change in presidential style.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-b..._b_144642.html
The last paragraph is especially apt to make some smile.