The Senate Brandishes a Gun at Amtrak

NOTE FROM GREETINGS: This is an utterly ridiculous stand from the Senate. And these are the same folks who keep "forecasting" a terrorist attack under Obama. Well, they're doing everything they can to help that along with this passage. Guns on trains in the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor? This is true insanity, thanks to the below-mentioned U.S. Senators. Look up the names and call their offices. Guns can NOT be sealed on a transportation system like Amtrak or U.S. buses. Would they let people carry them onto airplanes? How do they decide if someone CAN'T carry them on versus someone who CAN? This will show up as the act that helped create the next terrorist attack. And these names will be held responsible.

NY Times Editorial, Sept. 18, 2009

In a shocking genuflection to the gun lobby, the Senate has voted to deny Amtrak its indispensable $1.6 billion federal subsidy unless it allows passengers to transport handguns in their checked luggage. The budget support would be stripped in six months unless Amtrak scraps the gun ban that it wisely adopted five years ago after the terrorist railroad atrocities in Madrid.

The majority vote was bipartisan and not even close, with 27 Democrats and one independent (the ultraliberal Bernie Sanders from gun-friendly Vermont) joining all 40 Republicans versus 30 opponents. The hope is that the House or President Obama will ultimately reject the Amtrak measure, but security-wary citizens cannot count on that as the gun lobby choreographs political cravenness.

The budget cudgel was approved despite pleas from Amtrak that it lacks the manpower, equipment and extra financing to effectively meet the deadline and that it faces a shutdown if federal funds are lost. Among other changes, baggage cars would have to be securely retrofitted and manpower increased. The warning cut no ice with the majority as the chief sponsor, Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican of Mississippi, intoned a lock-step mantra: “Americans should not have their Second Amendment rights restricted for any reason.”

Proponents said the change was needed to put Amtrak back to its pre-9/11 gun policy and equate it with airline security measures that allow unloaded, locked handguns in checked baggage. This is lunatic reasoning for a nation supposedly sensitized by the 9/11 attacks. Why should gun owners be treated as privileged travelers?

Amtrak has none of the hermetic procedures where airport passengers are screened shoeless at detectors while their checked baggage is separately secured. Trains stop at stations and passengers come and go. Amtrak presently has a system of checking passengers and screening baggage at random, much the way New York police monitor mass transit.

If the Senate wants to pass a bill on Amtrak, it should provide the money to hire more security guards and create a real passenger rail system. Generally, it should just stop its demeaning homage to the gun lobby.

Senators Who Voted to Enable the Next Terrorist Attack (via Amtrak)

The following U.S. Senators voted Yes to allow guns on Amtrak passenger trains. Would you want them on airplanes now, too? Why yes on one and no on another?

Member	Party	State
Lamar Alexander	R	TN
John Barrasso	R	WY
Max Baucus	D	MT
Evan Bayh	D	IN
Mark Begich	D	AK
Michael Bennet	D	CO
Robert F. Bennett	R	UT
Jeff Bingaman	D	NM
Christopher S. Bond	R	MO
Sam Brownback	R	KS
Jim Bunning	R	KY
Richard M. Burr	R	NC
Bob Casey	D	PA
Saxby Chambliss	R	GA
Tom Coburn	R	OK
Thad Cochran	R	MS
Susan Collins	R	ME
Kent Conrad	D	ND
Bob Corker	R	TN
John Cornyn	R	TX
Michael D. Crapo	R	ID
Jim DeMint	R	SC
Byron L. Dorgan	D	ND
John Ensign	R	NV
Michael B. Enzi	R	WY
Russ Feingold	D	WI
Lindsey Graham	R	SC
Charles E. Grassley	R	IA
Judd Gregg	R	NH
Kay Hagan	D	NC
Orrin G. Hatch	R	UT
Kay Bailey Hutchison	R	TX
James M. Inhofe	R	OK
Johnny Isakson	R	GA
Mike Johanns	R	NE
Tim Johnson	D	SD
Amy Klobuchar	D	MN
Herb Kohl	D	WI
Jon Kyl	R	AZ
Mary L. Landrieu	D	LA
George S. LeMieux	R	FL
Patrick J. Leahy	D	VT
Blanche Lincoln	D	AR
Richard G. Lugar	R	IN
John McCain	R	AZ
Claire McCaskill	D	MO
Mitch McConnell	R	KY
Jeff Merkley	D	OR
Lisa Murkowski	R	AK
Bill Nelson	D	FL
Ben Nelson	D	NE
Harry Reid	D	NV
Jim Risch	R	ID
Pat Roberts	R	KS
Bernard Sanders	I	VT
Jeff Sessions	R	AL
Jeanne Shaheen	D	NH
Richard C. Shelby	R	AL
Olympia J. Snowe	R	ME
Jon Tester	D	MT
John Thune	R	SD
Mark Udall	D	CO
Tom Udall	D	NM
David Vitter	R	LA
George V. Voinovich	R	OH
Mark Warner	D	VA
Jim Webb	D	VA
Roger Wicker	R	MS

The U.S. Senators With Common Sense

These are the U.S. Senators who had enough common sense to vote "No" - to not allow guns on Amtrak Passenger trains. People who understand the consequences of the vote in terms of the potential for terrorist attacks.

No Votes (30)

Member	Party	State
Daniel K. Akaka	D	HI
Barbara Boxer	D	CA
Sherrod Brown	D	OH
Roland W. Burris	D	IL
Maria Cantwell	D	WA
Benjamin L. Cardin	D	MD
Thomas R. Carper	D	DE
Christopher J. Dodd	D	CT
Richard J. Durbin	D	IL
Dianne Feinstein	D	CA
Al Franken	D	MN
Kirsten Gillibrand	D	NY
Tom Harkin	D	IA
Daniel K. Inouye	D	HI
Edward E. Kaufman	D	DE
John Kerry	D	MA
Frank R. Lautenberg	D	NJ
Carl Levin	D	MI
Joseph I. Lieberman	ID	CT
Robert Menendez	D	NJ
Barbara A. Mikulski	D	MD
Patty Murray	D	WA
Mark Pryor	D	AR
Jack Reed	D	RI
John D. Rockefeller IV	D	WV
Charles E. Schumer	D	NY
Arlen Specter	D	PA
Debbie Stabenow	D	MI
Sheldon Whitehouse	D	RI
Ron Wyden	D	OR

Arm the Senate!

Isn't it time to dismantle the metal detectors, send the guards at the doors away and allow Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights by being free to carry their firearms into the nation's Capitol?

I've been studying the deep thoughts of senators who regularly express their undying loyalty to the National Rifle Association, and I have decided that they should practice what they preach. They tell us that the best defense against crime is an armed citizenry and that laws restricting guns do nothing to stop violence.

If they believe that, why don't they live by it?

Why would freedom-loving lawmakers want to hide behind guards and metal detectors? Shouldn't NRA members be outraged that Second Amendment rights mean nothing in the very seat of our democracy?

Congress seems to think that gun restrictions are for wimps. It voted this year to allow people to bring their weapons into national parks, and pro-gun legislators have pushed for the right to carry in taverns, colleges and workplaces. Shouldn't Congress set an example in its own workplace?

So why not let Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) pack the weapon of his choice on the Senate floor? Thune is the author of an amendment that would have allowed gun owners who had valid permits to carry concealed weapons into any state, even states with more restrictive gun laws. The amendment got 58 votes last week, two short of the 60 it needed to pass.

Judging by what Thune said in defense of his amendment, he'd clearly feel safer if everyone in the Capitol could carry a gun.

"Law-abiding individuals have the right to self-defense, especially because the Supreme Court has consistently found that police have no constitutional obligation to protect individuals from other individuals," he said. I guess that Thune doesn't think those guards and the Capitol Police have any obligation to protect him.

He went on: "The benefits of conceal and carry extend to more than just the individuals who actually carry the firearms. Since criminals are unable to tell who is and who is not carrying a firearm just by looking at a potential victim, they are less likely to commit a crime when they fear they may come in direct contact with an individual who is armed."

In other words, keeping guns out of the Capitol makes all our elected officials far less safe. If just a few senators had weapons, the criminals wouldn't know which ones were armed, and all senators would be safer, right? Isn't that better than highly intrusive gun control -- i.e., keeping people with guns out of the Capitol in the first place?

"Additionally," Thune said helpfully, "research shows that when unrestricted conceal and carry laws are passed, not only does it benefit those who are armed, but it also benefits others around them such as children."

This is a fantastic opportunity. Arming all our legislators would make it safer for children, so senators could feel much more secure bringing their kids into the Capitol. This would promote family values and might even reduce the number of highly publicized extramarital affairs.

During the debate, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) quoted a constituent who told him: "When my family and I go out at night, it makes me feel safer just knowing I am able to have my concealed weapon."

Why shouldn't Vitter feel equally safe in the Capitol? Why should he have to go out on the streets to carry a gun?

The pro-gun folks love their studies. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) offered this one: "A study for the Department of Justice found 40 percent of felons had not committed certain crimes because they feared the potential victims would be armed."

That doesn't tell us much about the other 60 percent, but what the heck? If it's good enough for Barrasso, let the good senator introduce the amendment to allow concealed carry in the Capitol.

Barrasso already dislikes the District of Columbia's tough restrictions on weapons. "The gun laws in the District outlaw law-abiding citizens from self-defense," he complained. So go for it, Senator! Make our nation's Capitol an island of firearms liberty in a sea of oppression.

Don't think this column is offered lightly. I want these guys to put up or shut up. If the NRA's servants in Congress don't take their arguments seriously enough to apply them to their own lives, maybe the rest of us should do more to stop them from imposing their nonsense on our country.

ejdionne@washpost.com