09-14-2004, 03:31 AM
Today President George W. Bush allowed the Assault Weapons Ban to expire.
And today Senator John Kerry blasted the president for letting the ban expire. "George Bush made a choice today," Kerry said. "He chose his powerful friends in the gun lobby over the police officers and the families he promised to protect. The President made the wrong choice."
Here's the full text of the comments Kerry made after receiving the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers:
Thank you. It's great to be here at the Thurgood Marshall Center. For so many years, this is a place that has given our children the gift of hope. And today, I am proud to stand with the heroes who risk their lives every day so that our children can live that hope on safe streets in protected communities.
I want to thank the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers for their endorsement today. These organizations, along with International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the International Union of Police Associations, and police officers all across the country are standing with me in this campaign because they know we need to set a new direction for America. And like me, they're tired of a President who takes cops off the streets with one hand while he puts AK-47s back on with the other.
Ten years ago today, with the leadership of Sarah Brady and police officers all across the country, we passed a tough crime bill to protect America. We made sure that criminals couldn't get their hands on assault weapons. And I'm proud I led the fight to put 100,000 cops into our nation's communities where they could make an impact and stop crimes before they happen. And it worked. We saw record drops in violent crime all over America, including gang violence and school-related murders. We saw assault weapon-related crimes drop 65%. Criminals were on the run and communities were able to live in peace because of the tireless work of brave officers.
But then George Bush became President. And when his powerful and well-connected friends asked for a massive tax cut he said "sure," and he paid for it by gutting the COPS program, slashing gang prevention, and cutting enforcement programs that keep drugs like meth off the streets.
Sure enough, over the last four years, crime has made a comeback: 800 more murders a year. Gang-related deaths up 40%. And more school murders last year than even the year of the Columbine shootings.
So when it came time to decide whether to keep the ban on assault weapons, the evidence was staring George Bush in the face: crime on the rise. More criminals looking for more dangerous weapons. Al-Qaeda telling terrorists to get their assault weapons in America. Police officers begging the President to keep the ban so they don't walk into a drug bust staring down the barrel of an Uzi.
George Bush gave them his word that he would keep the ban. But when it came time to extend it and George Bush's powerful friends in the gun lobby asked him to look the other way, he just couldn't resist, and he said "sure." And so tomorrow, for the first time in ten years, when a killer walks into a gun shop and wants to purchase an AK-47, he's gonna hear one word: "sure."
Today, George Bush chose to make the job of terrorists easier and make the job of America's police officers harder. That's wrong. Let me be very clear. I support the second amendment. I've been a hunter all my life. But I don't think we need to make the job of the terrorists any easier.
I'm a former prosecutor who knows what it takes to fight crime. After I returned from Vietnam, I worked in the DA's office in Massachusetts. We put murderers and mob bosses behind bars for life. As President, I will continue to fight crime and stand with police officers in doing whatever it takes to protect our communities and keep our families safe.
Our plan for a safer America puts more police officers back on the beat by restoring every last dime of funding to the COPS program. We'll also put 5,000 new prosecutors in our communities to help our police officers fight crime and put criminals behind bars.
We'll take on gang violence with a zero-tolerance policy and a message to our young people that there is another path. And we'll help local law enforcement shut down the methamphetamine labs that are taking the lives of our children and we'll make it harder to buy the drug in the first place.
Finally, we will always keep ban that keeps dangerous, military-style assault weapons out of the hands of killers and terrorists.
George Bush made a choice today. He chose his powerful friends in the gun lobby over the police officers and the families he promised to protect. The President made the wrong choice. When I am President, we will set America in a new direction with a plan to fight crime and keep our communities safer.
And today Senator John Kerry blasted the president for letting the ban expire. "George Bush made a choice today," Kerry said. "He chose his powerful friends in the gun lobby over the police officers and the families he promised to protect. The President made the wrong choice."
Here's the full text of the comments Kerry made after receiving the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers:
Thank you. It's great to be here at the Thurgood Marshall Center. For so many years, this is a place that has given our children the gift of hope. And today, I am proud to stand with the heroes who risk their lives every day so that our children can live that hope on safe streets in protected communities.
I want to thank the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers for their endorsement today. These organizations, along with International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the International Union of Police Associations, and police officers all across the country are standing with me in this campaign because they know we need to set a new direction for America. And like me, they're tired of a President who takes cops off the streets with one hand while he puts AK-47s back on with the other.
Ten years ago today, with the leadership of Sarah Brady and police officers all across the country, we passed a tough crime bill to protect America. We made sure that criminals couldn't get their hands on assault weapons. And I'm proud I led the fight to put 100,000 cops into our nation's communities where they could make an impact and stop crimes before they happen. And it worked. We saw record drops in violent crime all over America, including gang violence and school-related murders. We saw assault weapon-related crimes drop 65%. Criminals were on the run and communities were able to live in peace because of the tireless work of brave officers.
But then George Bush became President. And when his powerful and well-connected friends asked for a massive tax cut he said "sure," and he paid for it by gutting the COPS program, slashing gang prevention, and cutting enforcement programs that keep drugs like meth off the streets.
Sure enough, over the last four years, crime has made a comeback: 800 more murders a year. Gang-related deaths up 40%. And more school murders last year than even the year of the Columbine shootings.
So when it came time to decide whether to keep the ban on assault weapons, the evidence was staring George Bush in the face: crime on the rise. More criminals looking for more dangerous weapons. Al-Qaeda telling terrorists to get their assault weapons in America. Police officers begging the President to keep the ban so they don't walk into a drug bust staring down the barrel of an Uzi.
George Bush gave them his word that he would keep the ban. But when it came time to extend it and George Bush's powerful friends in the gun lobby asked him to look the other way, he just couldn't resist, and he said "sure." And so tomorrow, for the first time in ten years, when a killer walks into a gun shop and wants to purchase an AK-47, he's gonna hear one word: "sure."
Today, George Bush chose to make the job of terrorists easier and make the job of America's police officers harder. That's wrong. Let me be very clear. I support the second amendment. I've been a hunter all my life. But I don't think we need to make the job of the terrorists any easier.
I'm a former prosecutor who knows what it takes to fight crime. After I returned from Vietnam, I worked in the DA's office in Massachusetts. We put murderers and mob bosses behind bars for life. As President, I will continue to fight crime and stand with police officers in doing whatever it takes to protect our communities and keep our families safe.
Our plan for a safer America puts more police officers back on the beat by restoring every last dime of funding to the COPS program. We'll also put 5,000 new prosecutors in our communities to help our police officers fight crime and put criminals behind bars.
We'll take on gang violence with a zero-tolerance policy and a message to our young people that there is another path. And we'll help local law enforcement shut down the methamphetamine labs that are taking the lives of our children and we'll make it harder to buy the drug in the first place.
Finally, we will always keep ban that keeps dangerous, military-style assault weapons out of the hands of killers and terrorists.
George Bush made a choice today. He chose his powerful friends in the gun lobby over the police officers and the families he promised to protect. The President made the wrong choice. When I am President, we will set America in a new direction with a plan to fight crime and keep our communities safer.
![[Image: 723475742_8cb2b0be6c.jpg]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1019/723475742_8cb2b0be6c.jpg)