Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) wants the President to ban imports of ‘assault weapons’ due to the exploits of California State Sen. Leland Yee. (Photo credit: PBS)
Citing the fact that now-suspended California state Sen. Leland Yee allegedly planned to help bring illegal guns into the country, Rep. Jackie Speier, (D-CA), is calling for the President to ban the import of ‘lethal assault weapons.’
This announcement came Wednesday from the Congresswoman, who represents the same district that Yee hailed from.
“This FBI investigation of Leland Yee reveals how easy it is to import lethal assault weapons that were previously banned,” said Speier in an emailed statement from the Representative’s office to Guns.com.
“This case should be a warning to us all that even the most trusted appearing among us are ready to do real harm,” she said.
Her solution to fix future instances of potential gun running such as in the Yee case? Call on the White House to ban the import of “assault weapons.”
“Since Congress can pass no meaningful gun-control laws, even after the mass killing in Newtown, President Obama should use his pen to slow the import of these weapons, which have no place in our homes,” wrote Speier.
Yee, who up until last month was a member of the Californian State Senate and candidate for Secretary of State, was indicted on March 26 on charges that included numerous counts of public corruption and weapons violations. The latter, according to a 137-page affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, included helping to broker a deal with Islamic rebels in the Philippines for $2 million in military-grade weapons up to and including shoulder-fired missiles. These munitions would be smuggled from the Pacific to a port in New Jersey and were intended for criminal, not civilian use.
State Sen. Leland Yee is chased by reporters as he leaves the federal building in San Francisco Mar. 26. Yee is facing charges including weapons violations and fraud. (Photo credit: Michael Short, The Chronicle)
Speier, like Yee when he was in office, is a staunch advocate of gun control, even asking for a national gun registry.
In June 2013, she introduced the Gun Transparency and Accountability Act, which ends the restriction on use of crime gun trace data in gun dealer prosecutions or license reviews by the ATF. A survivor of the 1978 Jonestown Massacre, Speier is a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force as a vice chair. That committee pushed a number of initiatives including the failed 2013 Assault Weapon Ban on Capitol Hill.
At that time Speier went on the record as saying, “We don’t need assault weapons and we don’t need high-capacity magazines.”
Just a week before Yee’s indictment, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked the President for a ban on legal ‘assault weapon’ imports of the same sort that Speier is asking for now.
Speier’s new call for action has been called, ‘ironic’ by members of the pro-Second Amendment community.
“I don’t see any reason for someone to propose a ban on perfectly legal firearms coming into the country where law-abiding citizens would be able to purchase and own those firearms for hunting, competition or for any number of good reasons,” said Dave Workman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Speier represents California’s 14th Congressional District, which includes San Fransisco.
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