[Please circulate this report far and wide. Invite those not
presently subscribing to sign up at http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm
for GOA's low volume e-mail alerts.]
2000: The Year in Review
Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
What They're Saying About GOA
Rep. John Hostettler, (R-IN)
"Gun Owners of America is the pit bull of the Second Amendment.
They are relentless and never give any ground whatsoever to the gun
grabbers."
Retiring Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID)
"GOA is close to standing alone in Washington. They do not tell
their members one thing and do another inside the beltway. They
are tough and they don't give up."
U.S. Senator Bob Smith, (R-NH)
"You and your members are great patriots."
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
"GOA is the only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington."
Roll Call, the newspaper of record on Capitol Hill:
"Gun Owners of America is considered the most aggressive pro-gun
lobbying organization."
GOA Members Dodge a Bullet This Year After Hard Work Kills
Gun Control
"Members of Congress work in dread of receiving the hundreds, even
thousands, of postcards, letters, and phone calls.... When Senator
Patrick Leahy [D-VT] voted in favor of a relatively minor piece of
gun-control legislation, 'we got hundreds of postcards overnight,'
said a Leahy aide." -- Boston Globe, 8/7/00
It was supposed to be a done deal.
"Accord near on gun bill," one headline blared on September 24,
1999.
Negotiators are "close to agreement," opined the Associated Press.
New gun controls were imminent.
Indeed, many people thought the "fix" was in.
Gun owners were facing new gun bans, gun owner registration and
self-defense restrictions. Supposedly, there was nothing we could
do.
Some gun owners were even suggesting that we agree to gun control
"lite" to minimize the damage.
The media, those in Congress and the White House -- all of them
agreed that something was going to pass.
Well, that was September 1999.
More than a year later, those same experts were pronouncing the gun
bill dead.
What happened?
What happened was that Capitol Hill felt the power of the
grassroots.
GOA members unleashed a torrent of postcards and letters upon
Washington. Legislators were flooded with complaint after complaint
as e-mail, faxes and phone calls upped the pressure even more.
Legislative offices told Roll Call, the newspaper of record on
Capitol Hill, that the collective voice of GOA members was quite
loud.
"Gun Owners [of America] is... much more active. They moved quickly
and we heard from their people," said one House leadership source
close to the juvenile crime issue.
The victory over the anti-gun juvenile bill (H.R. 1501) has clearly
demonstrated the power that committed gun owners can have upon
legislation in Congress.
There is no need to retreat in the face of our opponents. We don't
need to offer gun control "lite" as an alternative whenever Sen.
Chuck Schumer wants another gun ban.
We don't need to compromise; we just need to organize.
And that we did. Gun owners won big with the defeat of the anti-gun
juvenile bill.
We won big with the passage of Rep. John Hostettler's "gun owners
protection act," and with the defeat of several anti-gun measures.
Consider just some of the victories we accomplished together this
year:
* The Clinton administration cut a horrendous deal with Smith &
Wesson in March that imposed new restrictions on gun buyers and
dealers. GOA subsequently pushed a "gun owners protection act"
-- offered by Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana -- which helps
ensure that other gun makers will not join Smith & Wesson in
selling out gun owners. The Hostettler provision became law in
October and prohibits the military from rewarding S&W's perfidy
with fat government contracts.
* GOA activists won a key battle when they helped kill an anti-gun
Schumer amendment that threatened to put gun makers out of
business. The provision would have helped the cities bringing
suit against gun makers by preventing them from declaring
legitimate bankruptcy, thus discharging any enormous judgments
that result from frivolous lawsuits.
* Holding a letter from GOA in her hand, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
stood on the Senate floor attacking GOA in March after we refused
to support her gun control "compromise." Boxer's anti-gun
amendment, which instructed House-Senate conferees to finish its
work on the anti-gun juvenile bill, subsequently failed by one
vote.
* GOA members put intense pressure on Utah Senator Orrin Hatch to
change his position and stop supporting the anti-gun juvenile
bill. After thousands upon thousands of postcards, letters and
telephone calls, Sen. Hatch finally "saw the light." President
Clinton later lamented the fact that Sen. Hatch had changed his
tune, noting that "there's so much pressure on Senator Hatch not
to call a meeting" to pass the anti-gun juvenile bill.
* Incredibly, after months and months of grassroots pressure from
GOA members this year, almost 50 Representatives and Senators
switched their votes away from their previous support for the
anti-gun bill. The massive defections doomed the chances of
post-Columbine gun control from passing.
And finally, GOA members and activists helped kill one of the
sneakiest gun bans ever devised. The Defense Department would have
been authorized to confiscate and destroy any military surplus item
that had ever been sold by the government -- M1 Carbines, 1903
Springfields, Colt SAAs, uniforms, ammo, scopes, antique planes,
anti-aircraft guns in front of VFW posts, and much more. All these
items could have been confiscated and destroyed by the government.
Gun Owners of America put out e-mail and fax alerts asking our
members to contact their congressmen and demand removal of this
incredible gun grab. The bill had already passed both houses of
Congress by huge margins -- nobody reads the bills -- and was in a
conference committee to iron out differences.
One of the members of that committee, anti-gun Republican Senator
John Warner of Virginia, was crucial. GOA mailed postcards to our
members in the state urging them to put the heat on Warner.
Two days after the mail went out, Warner's office called asking what
was going on. We told them they were on the verge of angering not
only gun owners, but veterans as well. The message evidently got
through.
Thanks to the tireless members of Gun Owners of America who are
always ready when called, Congress felt the heat. The Pearl Harbor
attack on the Second Amendment was averted by the flood of calls and
e-mail directed to Congress.
This year's success gives us hope for next year. We want to press
forward for even greater victories.
GOA will fight for national concealed carry reciprocity. We will
work to pass the Citizen's Self-defense Act.
We want to stop the frivolous lawsuits against the gun industry --
lawsuits that threaten to put an end to the buying and selling of
guns in this country.
It is going to be a tough two years. But with your help, GOA will
fight for these things.
With your help, GOA will battle the compromisers who want to sign
off on gun bans at gun shows, to register private sales, and to
impose anti-safety devices upon every handgun owner.
With your help, GOA will stand against the media pundits who
continue beating the drums for more and more draconian restrictions.
GOA can do a lot with your help. But we need you to stand with us.
Thank you for supporting Gun Owners of America and making us your
gun lobby.
If You're Not Yet A GOA Member, Is It Time You Became One?
The ability of GOA to continue putting pressure on politicians
depends on loyal activists like yourself. So if you would like to
keep up on other issues; if you would like to get our special Fact
Sheets which are only provided to GOA members; if you would like to
receive our very informative newsletter and get pre-printed
postcards that enable you to easily lobby your own Congressmen --
even to the point of becoming an "arm chair lobbyist" while watching
TV commercials -- then please become a GOA member today!
Join GOA today online at http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm or
call 703-321-8585.
Or print and mail the following form.
--------------------------------------------------------
To:
Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place
Springfield, VA 22151
__ I would like to join GOA. Enclosed is $20 to start getting
GOA's basic membership benefits including monthly legislative
updates, GOA's newsletter, special alerts, and more.
__ Although not joining today, here's my contribution of $____ to
help finance GOA's excellent fax/e-mail alert network. Note:
While GOA sends out its alerts at no charge, a gift of $15 or
more will help cover your alert costs for 2001. This
opportunity to contribute is included only in the End of the
Year Report and will not be a part of 2001 legislative alerts.
_________________________________________________________________
(name -- please print clearly)
_________________________________________________________________
(address)
_________________________________________________________________
(city / state / zip)
_________________________________________________________________
(phone number)
__ MC __ Visa __ AmEx __ Discover __ Check enclosed
_________________________________________________________________
(credit card number)
Expires: _____________________ Total amount: ____________________
Signature: ______________________________________________________
(required on credit card purchases)
**************
Do not reply directly to this message.
To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.
To unsubscribe send a message to gunowners_members@mailmanager.net
with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address
goamail@gunowners.org is at your disposal. Please do not add that
address to distribution lists sending more than ten messages per
week or lists associated with issues other than gun rights.
presently subscribing to sign up at http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm
for GOA's low volume e-mail alerts.]
2000: The Year in Review
Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
What They're Saying About GOA
Rep. John Hostettler, (R-IN)
"Gun Owners of America is the pit bull of the Second Amendment.
They are relentless and never give any ground whatsoever to the gun
grabbers."
Retiring Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID)
"GOA is close to standing alone in Washington. They do not tell
their members one thing and do another inside the beltway. They
are tough and they don't give up."
U.S. Senator Bob Smith, (R-NH)
"You and your members are great patriots."
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
"GOA is the only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington."
Roll Call, the newspaper of record on Capitol Hill:
"Gun Owners of America is considered the most aggressive pro-gun
lobbying organization."
GOA Members Dodge a Bullet This Year After Hard Work Kills
Gun Control
"Members of Congress work in dread of receiving the hundreds, even
thousands, of postcards, letters, and phone calls.... When Senator
Patrick Leahy [D-VT] voted in favor of a relatively minor piece of
gun-control legislation, 'we got hundreds of postcards overnight,'
said a Leahy aide." -- Boston Globe, 8/7/00
It was supposed to be a done deal.
"Accord near on gun bill," one headline blared on September 24,
1999.
Negotiators are "close to agreement," opined the Associated Press.
New gun controls were imminent.
Indeed, many people thought the "fix" was in.
Gun owners were facing new gun bans, gun owner registration and
self-defense restrictions. Supposedly, there was nothing we could
do.
Some gun owners were even suggesting that we agree to gun control
"lite" to minimize the damage.
The media, those in Congress and the White House -- all of them
agreed that something was going to pass.
Well, that was September 1999.
More than a year later, those same experts were pronouncing the gun
bill dead.
What happened?
What happened was that Capitol Hill felt the power of the
grassroots.
GOA members unleashed a torrent of postcards and letters upon
Washington. Legislators were flooded with complaint after complaint
as e-mail, faxes and phone calls upped the pressure even more.
Legislative offices told Roll Call, the newspaper of record on
Capitol Hill, that the collective voice of GOA members was quite
loud.
"Gun Owners [of America] is... much more active. They moved quickly
and we heard from their people," said one House leadership source
close to the juvenile crime issue.
The victory over the anti-gun juvenile bill (H.R. 1501) has clearly
demonstrated the power that committed gun owners can have upon
legislation in Congress.
There is no need to retreat in the face of our opponents. We don't
need to offer gun control "lite" as an alternative whenever Sen.
Chuck Schumer wants another gun ban.
We don't need to compromise; we just need to organize.
And that we did. Gun owners won big with the defeat of the anti-gun
juvenile bill.
We won big with the passage of Rep. John Hostettler's "gun owners
protection act," and with the defeat of several anti-gun measures.
Consider just some of the victories we accomplished together this
year:
* The Clinton administration cut a horrendous deal with Smith &
Wesson in March that imposed new restrictions on gun buyers and
dealers. GOA subsequently pushed a "gun owners protection act"
-- offered by Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana -- which helps
ensure that other gun makers will not join Smith & Wesson in
selling out gun owners. The Hostettler provision became law in
October and prohibits the military from rewarding S&W's perfidy
with fat government contracts.
* GOA activists won a key battle when they helped kill an anti-gun
Schumer amendment that threatened to put gun makers out of
business. The provision would have helped the cities bringing
suit against gun makers by preventing them from declaring
legitimate bankruptcy, thus discharging any enormous judgments
that result from frivolous lawsuits.
* Holding a letter from GOA in her hand, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
stood on the Senate floor attacking GOA in March after we refused
to support her gun control "compromise." Boxer's anti-gun
amendment, which instructed House-Senate conferees to finish its
work on the anti-gun juvenile bill, subsequently failed by one
vote.
* GOA members put intense pressure on Utah Senator Orrin Hatch to
change his position and stop supporting the anti-gun juvenile
bill. After thousands upon thousands of postcards, letters and
telephone calls, Sen. Hatch finally "saw the light." President
Clinton later lamented the fact that Sen. Hatch had changed his
tune, noting that "there's so much pressure on Senator Hatch not
to call a meeting" to pass the anti-gun juvenile bill.
* Incredibly, after months and months of grassroots pressure from
GOA members this year, almost 50 Representatives and Senators
switched their votes away from their previous support for the
anti-gun bill. The massive defections doomed the chances of
post-Columbine gun control from passing.
And finally, GOA members and activists helped kill one of the
sneakiest gun bans ever devised. The Defense Department would have
been authorized to confiscate and destroy any military surplus item
that had ever been sold by the government -- M1 Carbines, 1903
Springfields, Colt SAAs, uniforms, ammo, scopes, antique planes,
anti-aircraft guns in front of VFW posts, and much more. All these
items could have been confiscated and destroyed by the government.
Gun Owners of America put out e-mail and fax alerts asking our
members to contact their congressmen and demand removal of this
incredible gun grab. The bill had already passed both houses of
Congress by huge margins -- nobody reads the bills -- and was in a
conference committee to iron out differences.
One of the members of that committee, anti-gun Republican Senator
John Warner of Virginia, was crucial. GOA mailed postcards to our
members in the state urging them to put the heat on Warner.
Two days after the mail went out, Warner's office called asking what
was going on. We told them they were on the verge of angering not
only gun owners, but veterans as well. The message evidently got
through.
Thanks to the tireless members of Gun Owners of America who are
always ready when called, Congress felt the heat. The Pearl Harbor
attack on the Second Amendment was averted by the flood of calls and
e-mail directed to Congress.
This year's success gives us hope for next year. We want to press
forward for even greater victories.
GOA will fight for national concealed carry reciprocity. We will
work to pass the Citizen's Self-defense Act.
We want to stop the frivolous lawsuits against the gun industry --
lawsuits that threaten to put an end to the buying and selling of
guns in this country.
It is going to be a tough two years. But with your help, GOA will
fight for these things.
With your help, GOA will battle the compromisers who want to sign
off on gun bans at gun shows, to register private sales, and to
impose anti-safety devices upon every handgun owner.
With your help, GOA will stand against the media pundits who
continue beating the drums for more and more draconian restrictions.
GOA can do a lot with your help. But we need you to stand with us.
Thank you for supporting Gun Owners of America and making us your
gun lobby.
If You're Not Yet A GOA Member, Is It Time You Became One?
The ability of GOA to continue putting pressure on politicians
depends on loyal activists like yourself. So if you would like to
keep up on other issues; if you would like to get our special Fact
Sheets which are only provided to GOA members; if you would like to
receive our very informative newsletter and get pre-printed
postcards that enable you to easily lobby your own Congressmen --
even to the point of becoming an "arm chair lobbyist" while watching
TV commercials -- then please become a GOA member today!
Join GOA today online at http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm or
call 703-321-8585.
Or print and mail the following form.
--------------------------------------------------------
To:
Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place
Springfield, VA 22151
__ I would like to join GOA. Enclosed is $20 to start getting
GOA's basic membership benefits including monthly legislative
updates, GOA's newsletter, special alerts, and more.
__ Although not joining today, here's my contribution of $____ to
help finance GOA's excellent fax/e-mail alert network. Note:
While GOA sends out its alerts at no charge, a gift of $15 or
more will help cover your alert costs for 2001. This
opportunity to contribute is included only in the End of the
Year Report and will not be a part of 2001 legislative alerts.
_________________________________________________________________
(name -- please print clearly)
_________________________________________________________________
(address)
_________________________________________________________________
(city / state / zip)
_________________________________________________________________
(phone number)
__ MC __ Visa __ AmEx __ Discover __ Check enclosed
_________________________________________________________________
(credit card number)
Expires: _____________________ Total amount: ____________________
Signature: ______________________________________________________
(required on credit card purchases)
**************
Do not reply directly to this message.
To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.
To unsubscribe send a message to gunowners_members@mailmanager.net
with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address
goamail@gunowners.org is at your disposal. Please do not add that
address to distribution lists sending more than ten messages per
week or lists associated with issues other than gun rights.