Don't you have a acces to something like Web of Science, or a library with PS works?
I always use Web of Science for my Political Science essays, but I get acces through my Uni, so I don't know if you can too,
No i don't really all i have to work with is google and a public library.
So far this is what i have, i picked the gun ban of 1994
The Gun Ban of 1994
On September 13th 1994 the gun ban of 1994 better know as The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was signed into law by the 41'st President of the United States, Mr. Bill Clinton. The final version of the bill passed 235 to 135 in the house and 61 to 38 in the senate, not to say there was no resistance, but there was a halfhearted effort against the bill because of numerous factors such as the crime surge in the 70's and 80's. Packing the bill with other such things loosely related to guns also made it easier to push through, and equally important the president's fear for his own safety which could drive anyone to extensive measures. Also when finally having a Democratic candidate in the white house after several far right conservatives the left did not want to appear “soft on crime”. Additionally there was the public shooting of Patrick Prudy which further fueled public fear of another such tragedy. Of course Ruby Ridge and Waco did not help calm public fears of such civilian militia groups, and the ownership of military-style weapons either . In short the climate was right for such a law to pass, and there was an air of 'rally round the flag'. And to tie everything up in a nice package a sunset provision, which terminates the bill after a certain point in time. Because of the termination status it overall appeared less threatening and more of and immediate response to an immediate threat, not a history altering law for a limited problem.
The gun ban placed restrictions on Rifles, Handguns and Shotguns making it illegal to posses two or more of the following traits; for semi-automatic rifles containing two or more of the following traits. Detachable clips and a pistol grip, grenade launcher, flash suppressor, bayonet mount or folding stock. On handguns the magazine cannot attach outside the pistol grip, have an unloaded weight of 50 oz., or be a semi automatic version of an existing fully automatic firearm. Or contain a flash suppressor, hand grip, etc. Semi-automatic Shotguns cannot poses detachable magazines, pistol grips, folding stocks or a fixed capacity of more than 5 rounds. In short anything that is scary or cool looking. Some of the legislators of the bill actually went through a gun magazine looking for things to ban, proven by the fact that they replicated a typo that appeared in a gun magazine. Additionally the final version of the bill, at the time Senator Joe Biden's, also banned ownership of firearms from all minors. Which generally is not regarded as an issue unless you happen to be a 16 year old hormonal teenager who really wants a firearm. Beyond that there are quite a bit of extra pieces of legislation and understandably all the clauses do get confusing, “...I can have a 30-round mag but no grenade launcher; or I can have the grenade launcher as long as I don't have the bayonet lug. No I can't give up my bayonet- I may need it to hold off the next banzai charge by the IJN marines lurking just the other side of the Stop-N-Shop...”. Oddly enough most of the bill was not just about assault weapons, there were large sections covering more funding for police, social programs, establishing the 3 strikes law and allowing more money to prisons.
. …......TBA....... Also because of the bill being mostly written by democrats social reform programs were given a large priority. Part of this includes setting aside $567 million in funding for the “safe haven” program for youth during portions of time where they are not in school such as after school, summer, and weekends; another$243 million for in school programs for drug alternatives and other such positive activities. For a variety of projects such as anti-gang programs, boys and girl clubs and midnight sport leagues another $337 million was allotted. ….........
While not officially documented as a cause I harbor the belief that Clinton was scared for his own skin, as several years back there was an assassination attempt on president Reagan's life. Obviously being the most powerful person in the country ,and possibly the world if you take into account nuclear warheads comes with certain occupational hazards. Such as someone who strongly opposing your views and not fearing the consequences attempting to murder you. Backing this theory is the Brady Bill, which I consider a precursor to the Assault weapon ban. The Brady bill makes it mandatory for a five day waiting period on all handgun purchases and the buyer's personal information to be submitted to the local chief law enforcement officer so they can run a background check. Clinton justified this legislation because of an incident involving a local hardware store owner selling a handgun to an unstable Vietnam veteran who had been recently released from a mental institution. He in turn took the handgun and went on a shooting spree. Passing this was in Clinton's eyes a good beginning to the future of gun bans, I completely agree that the Brady bill set the groundwork and prepared the stage for the Federal Assault weapon ban.
One major factor behind driving this legislation through was that Clinton's predecessors; Reagan and Bush senior both had tough anti crime policies, and being the first democrat to hold the office in nearly a decade he was more than willing to prove to the public that a democratic candidate is not going to go easy on criminals . Ronald Reagan had a simple philosophy with drugs and crime, “Just say no”. However his efforts went much further than his wife's just say no campaign, he “involved the FBI in the fight against drugs, added five hundred Drug Enforcement Administration agents, established thirteen regional anti-drug task forces and chalked up record numbers of drug seizures and convictions.”(3). Additionally he approved three new prisons and a 6% growth in law enforcement agencies. Immediately as Bush senior became president he made it clear that he would coattail the strong anti- drug offense by stating in his inaugural address, “There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance. The most obvious now is drugs. And when that first cocaine was smuggled in on a ship, it may as well have been a deadly bacteria, so much has it hurt the body, the soul of our country. And there is much to be done and to be said, but take my word for it: This scourge will stop.” However the best laid intentions do not always play out that way, the scourge has not stopped.
Getting this piece of legislation going was relativity easy because it is considered an omnibus bill, which means that it is a bill related to a specific area that covers many issues or topics . Basically a party train for everyone involved in writing it because they can tack on anything they want related to the main topic of the bill. This method is often used by politicians to pass a controversial piece of legislation through, because if another senator or congressperson votes against it anything considered a positive in bill can be used against them next election. It would be sort of a “He voted against saving lives and hiring more police officers! So vote for me!!”, which for the most part would be hard to argue to a generally gullible and uninterested public. However because of the nature of the bill there was some reaching across the aisle to help get this thing passed, such as the three strikes policy which a number of more liberal members opposed and generally speaking conservatives supported that piece.
By the time this legislation had finally been hammered out and put to a vote there had been plenty of support gathered by such things as the Cleveland school massacre ,Ruby Ridge ,the Waco siege , and the101 California Street shooting,Perhaps the most traumatic and disheartening of such shootings was the Cleveland elementary school shooting, where a man by the name of Patrick purdy shot a bunch of kids on the playground at his old school, the perpetrator had a long history of violence which started at the age of 12 with a BB gun. Time magazine asked "Why could Purdy, an alcoholic who had been arrested for such offenses as selling weapons and attempted robbery, walk into a gun shop in Sandy, Oregon, and leave with an AK-47 under his arm?", however they mislabeled the weapon, a type 56 semi automatic rifle, as an AK-47 due to similar appearance. The first incident, Ruby Ridge was a very controversial case involving a man named randy weaver and his family. The first shooting incident took place when a recon team was scouting the area looking for a place to take ambush and arrest Randy Weaver, they threw some rocks at the cabin to test the response of the dogs, which in turn started searching the woods followed by the boy and a man named Harris. When the dogs found the recon team at a “Y” in a forest trail they attacked, one of the dogs and Harris were shot dead. Despite minimal involvement of illegal firearms besides a possibly shortened barrel shotgun this case still caused heightened fears of such weapons getting into private ownership. Many considered the siege on the Waco property unnecessary and unethical attempt of the government to strong arm a civilian into doing what they wanted. And the Waco incident, a siege on the polygamist ranch run by David Koresh which left over 80 people dead including 20 children. However there were no confirmed reports of illegal weapons, only the accusation of legal weapons being converted to illegal weapons and the complaint of neighbors hearing fully automatic weapon fire. Some on the more extreme end considered the entire Waco incident government infringement on their religious freedoms. Granted there is no national law against polygamy, and the topic is generally regarded as a hot potato. Many twenty year old men would have no problem with seven different wives, that is until child support is deduced from their pay. California street was executed by a Mr. Gain Luigi Ferri using two TEC-9 .45 caliber pistols, despite being labeled as a pistol by the ATF it is very similar in appearance to that of an Israeli Uzi. In the aftermath there was nine deaths (including a suicide by the shooter) and six injuries. In addition to Federal reaction, several organizations such as the Legal Community Against Violence and the Jack Berman Advocacy Center which lobby's for gun control and violence reduction decided to take action, which mostly consisted of lobbying on the behalf of more gun bans and rabble rousing.
Something else crucial to letting the bill through was the sunset provision, which “is a provision in a statute or regulation that terminates or repeals all or portions of the law after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend it. Most laws do not have sunset clauses; in such cases, the law goes on indefinitely.”. Many people would have opposed such a bill if by nature being considered indefinite. However in this case the bill expired on September 13, 2004 , thus leaving it to future interpenetration and revision and only apply if Congress could once again muster the votes necessary to get it through. On March 2, 2004, just before the approach of the 'sunset' on the assault weapon ban senator Dianne Fienstien attached and tried to get passed a ten year extension called the “protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” , which “...would have immunized gun manufacturers from liability suits stemming from violent gun crimes. But the Senate voted 90-8 against the final bill after the National Rifle Association urged its defeat.”. The head of the NRA , Wayne LaPierre, mentioned that many democrats were reluctant to vote for it again because they believe that is what cost them the majority back in 1994. Additionally after the incidents of Ruby ridge and Waco public fears of government taking civilians guns away from them increased membership in private militia groups. Some of these groups ideologies vary radically from constitutional right to conspiratorial plans, however the most publicized of these groups are usually white supremacist groups. Generally speaking these groups have one thing in common, an opposition to any sort of regulations, which heightened politicians fears of such groups “going rouge” and shooting up the countryside.
Constructive chrticism? I really want a good grade on this essay!
» Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:39 pm 
