Outrageous claims abounded among anti-gun senators as well. Sen. (Charles) Schumer (D-NY)claimed that if the amendment became law, a juvenile gang member from New York could obtain a permit in Vermont, buy handguns there, shove them in a backpack, walk the streets of New York City trafficking the guns to criminals, and use the carry permit to satisfy the curiousity of any NYPD officer who might notice.

The author of the piece, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox, properly noted that Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) pointed out "that Vermont does not issue carry permits, that juveniles are generally prohibited from buying and possessing handguns, and that no police officer could be fooled in the way Schumer suggested". To this I would add that Senator Media Hound also forgot that New York City already has a handgun ban, and that knowingly selling firearms to a criminal is a violation of federal law.

This is the kind of representation in Washington that makes New York Republicans wince. Oh, Al D'Amato, why couldn't you have run a better campaign in 1998?

I'd like to end with a great quote from P.J. O'Rourke -- "I'm not a liberal, so I have a poor grasp of subjects I know nothing about".