Kudos to Jake Tapper. On his State of the Union CNN show this morning, not only did Tapper raise with Georgia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams the legislation she introduced as a member of the Georgia legislature that would have forced Georgians to surrender their "assault weapons." Tapper then twice pressed Abrams on it as she tried to dance away.
Abrams's weasel word of the day: "conversation." No fewer than five times Abrams claimed she was merely trying to start a "conversation" on the subject. Sorry, Ms. Abrams: when you introduce legislation, you're not merely starting a conversation. You're expressing what in your heart-of-hearts you believe is the best solution to the problem at hand.
Beware Georgians, and gun owners across the country. When liberals say they just want to start a "conversation" about taking your guns away, they will make every effort to turn that "conversation" into reality.
Note: further credit to Tapper for not buying into the gun control enthusiasts' "assault weapons" terminology. Tapper was careful to describe them as "so-called assault weapons," and a bit later spoke of "semi-automatic rifles that are called assault weapons."
JAKE TAPPER: Let’s talk about gun policy. When you were a state lawmaker in 2016, you co-sponsored a bill that would have allowed Georgia state authorities to take away so-called assault weapons from current gun owners. Most similar bans would grandfather in existing weapons of that sort: semi-automatic rifles that are called assault weapons. So is that your current position, that law-abiding gun owners in Georgia should have to give up those weapons, if authorities deem it necessary?
STACEY ABRAMS: In the state of Georgia, you introduce legislation to start conversations.
. . .
TAPPER: Well, just to be clear, you were one of six co-sponsors of this bill, House bill 731, introduced January 11th, 2016. Not that long ago. Your co-sponsor told reporters that the law, quote, would require gun owners of these particular models to turn their guns in.
ABRAMS: And again, my point is this. The legislation introduced was the beginning of a conversation.
. . .
TAPPER: Well, just to be clear here, I’m just trying to understand. So you don’t support the actual legislation, you just support having a conversation about it?
ABRAMS: No, what I’ve said is, legislation in the state legislature is about starting the conversation . . . My mission in 2016 was to be a part of the conversation. I believe that we have to ban assault weapons in the state of Georgia. But what I’m saying is, as part of my leadership, I’m going to work across the aisle, and we’re going to have a conversation about how we accomplish this.
