I saw a couple of posts on this but don't know if it was disproved to this degree.
Fake E-Mail Raises Concerns Among Gun Owners
By TARA COPP
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON -- A fake e-mail saying that Congress may require citizens to list all the guns they own on their tax forms has prompted hundreds of worried citizens to contact Capitol Hill.
There are handgun registration bills currently filed in both the House and Senate, but none would require an American to list their guns on tax forms. And the unpopular bills have either little or no support.
The real legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., would require all handguns, including those currently in private possession, to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Even Reed's office concedes the legislation is not going anywhere soon.
"Our thinking is nothing is going to happen on it in this Congress. We'd even be surprised if we got action on it in the next Congress," said spokesman Craig McCarthy. "With gun control legislation in the last 40 years it's been a seven-year battle to get anything enacted."
So what Reed's office hopes, McCarthy said, is that the idea will simmer long enough that it will gradually gain more congressional support.
That's unlikely, said Julie Turner, spokeswoman for Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Texas.
"We haven't held hearings on the issue - obviously this is an issue that would be dead in the water," said Turner.
Turner said the fake idea of reporting gun ownership on tax forms "would not find any support in any Congress."
Many Texans confused by the fake e-mail have demanded answers from Stenholm's office.
San Angelo resident Bud Rector got word of the legislation through the fake e-mail.
"It came up on the Internet," said Rector. "I sent it to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and she said it's likely not going to get out of committee."
Rector owns a handgun, has a license to carry a concealed weapon and is a certified instructor who teaches others how to carry concealed handguns.
Rector said he's extremely opposed to the legislation, because he sees it as a step toward confiscating the weapons.
"I think it would be extremely effective," Rector said. "It worked in Nazi Germany, it worked in Russia. Whenever you want to confiscate guns it's tremendously effective."
On the Net: The fake e-mail and correct information can be found at www.gunregistration.org
(Scripps Howard intern Joseph Gannon contributed to this report.)
© 2000 Scripps Howard News Service
Fake E-Mail Raises Concerns Among Gun Owners
By TARA COPP
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON -- A fake e-mail saying that Congress may require citizens to list all the guns they own on their tax forms has prompted hundreds of worried citizens to contact Capitol Hill.
There are handgun registration bills currently filed in both the House and Senate, but none would require an American to list their guns on tax forms. And the unpopular bills have either little or no support.
The real legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., would require all handguns, including those currently in private possession, to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Even Reed's office concedes the legislation is not going anywhere soon.
"Our thinking is nothing is going to happen on it in this Congress. We'd even be surprised if we got action on it in the next Congress," said spokesman Craig McCarthy. "With gun control legislation in the last 40 years it's been a seven-year battle to get anything enacted."
So what Reed's office hopes, McCarthy said, is that the idea will simmer long enough that it will gradually gain more congressional support.
That's unlikely, said Julie Turner, spokeswoman for Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Texas.
"We haven't held hearings on the issue - obviously this is an issue that would be dead in the water," said Turner.
Turner said the fake idea of reporting gun ownership on tax forms "would not find any support in any Congress."
Many Texans confused by the fake e-mail have demanded answers from Stenholm's office.
San Angelo resident Bud Rector got word of the legislation through the fake e-mail.
"It came up on the Internet," said Rector. "I sent it to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and she said it's likely not going to get out of committee."
Rector owns a handgun, has a license to carry a concealed weapon and is a certified instructor who teaches others how to carry concealed handguns.
Rector said he's extremely opposed to the legislation, because he sees it as a step toward confiscating the weapons.
"I think it would be extremely effective," Rector said. "It worked in Nazi Germany, it worked in Russia. Whenever you want to confiscate guns it's tremendously effective."
On the Net: The fake e-mail and correct information can be found at www.gunregistration.org
(Scripps Howard intern Joseph Gannon contributed to this report.)
© 2000 Scripps Howard News Service