GUN CONTROL
The right to self-defense is the most basic of all. The founders recognized that the constitution is just a piece of paper. Supposed freedom of speech or assembly ultimately mean nothing if you don't have the power to defend them. Even if the government isn't banning your freedom of expression, it won't do you much good if you are a poor person left defenseless against street crime.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, let's presume that in his heart of hearts, Dick Lugar believes in the 2nd Ammendment right to keep and bear arms. Nonetheless, he doesn't wish to appear opposed to "common sense" gun control measures - after all, he is a "reasonable" and "mature" leader. Therefore, he ends up blowing in the winds of the latest stilted public opinion polls - and voting to whittle down our Bill of Rights inch by inch. With 2nd Ammendment friends like this, who needs Democrats?
RICHARD LUGAR VOTES AGAINST 2ND AMMENDMENT GUN RIGHTS:
S 254: Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-14-99
Vote to pass an amendment to require unlicensed gun vendors to conduct background checks on gun purchasers through a licensed vendor at gun shows. The amendment also prohibits anyone convicted of a felony as a juvenile from owning a gun as an adult. Lugar voted YES. This would apparently mean that, for example, any juvenile caught selling weed would lose the constitutional right to self-defense for the rest of his life.
S 254: Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-20-99
Vote on an amendment to require that all firearms sales at gun shows to have background checks performed. The amendment also requires gunshow promoters and vendors to register in advance with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms [ATF] and to pay a registration fee and allows the Attorney General to maintain records of gun sales up to 90 days. Lugar voted YES. All the better for the likes of Janet Reno to know where the guns are before she again sends in the military to crush more peaceable citizens such as the Branch Davidians.
S 254: Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-11-99
Vote to table or kill a motion to require that all gun sales at gun shows be completed by federally licensed gun dealers. The amendment also requires background checks to be completed on buyers and requires gun show promoters to register with the Treasury Department. Lugar voted NO, which is effectively a vote in favor of increased restrictions on gun shows. Further progresses the idea of making sure the federal government knows as much as possible about who has what guns - the better to find them when the time comes they decide to start grabbing.
S 254: Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-14-99
Vote to table, or kill, an amendment to ban Internet websites that advertise to sell more than 10 guns at once unless the person operating the site is a licensed gun dealer. Lugar voted NO. This was a vote essentially supporting the efforts of Charles Schumer, the biggest opponent of the 2nd Ammendment in the senate.
S 254: Violent and repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-13-99
Vote to table or kill an amendment that would ban possession and transfer of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition clips to juveniles. The amendment would also prohibit the importation of large capacity ammunition clips. Lugar voted NO. This amounts to a vote to ban purchase of any clip that hold more than 10 rounds.
S 254: Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-20-99
Vote on an amendment to require special licensees at gun shows to conduct background checks on anyone purchasing a gun from them and to require pawnshops to conduct background checks on anyone redeeming their own gun. [Special licensees are private gun vendors who are not federally licensed, but who can obtain temporary licenses to sell guns and run background checks at gun shows.] Lugar voted YES. You'd have to get a background check to re-claim your own gun? What WILL they think of next?
S 254: Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act 5-18-99
Vote on an amendment to prohibit the sale or transfer of handguns unless accompanied by a secure gun storage or safety lock. Lugar voted YES. Yeah, that'll stop those criminals from doing bad things.
S 2312: Treasury Department, Postal Service Appropriations Act, 1999 7-28-98
Vote to table, or kill, an amendment that would prohibit the importation of large capacity ammunition clips. [Large capacity clips are those that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Current law prohibits large capacity clips from being manufactured in the U.S, but allowed those made overseas which were already under contract to enter the country.] Lugar voted NO. What part of "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" doesn't he understand?
HR 3756: Fiscal 1997 Treasury, Postal and General Government Appropriations Act 9-12-96
Vote on a motion to table, or kill, an amendment that would make it a federal crime to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a school, if the gun has crossed state lines or been out of the country. The amendment includes exceptions, including an exception for guns on private property that is not part of a school's grounds. Lugar voted NO. So then I should be considered a felon if I drive past a school with a gun in the trunk of my car?
Go here for more info on Lugar's voting record.