Dear Congressman Crowley,
Can you please provide me with the studies that support your view on a ban on these types of weapons? I.E. since the ban sunset in 2004, how many crimes have specifically been committed with firearms that would be banned under this new Act? How many crimes were committed during the original ban with firearms that would be banned under this Act?
Also, can you please name for me the manufacturers that you believe have acted in an "unscrupulous" manner? As far as I have been able to find, some companies that offered for sale such firearms that "exploited" the loopholes were companies such as Colt, Armalite, and Knight's Armament. These companies all have contracts with several, if not all, of the different Branches of the United States Military, both currently and for many decades in the past. They are the companies that are supplying our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, grandfathers, husbands, wives, fellow Americans, etc etc etc with arms in our overseas & domestic War Against Terror. They are also the very same companies supplying arms to our law enforcement agencies, the ones you state that this ban is designed to protect.
These companies should be praised for a job so well done such as arming our troops and our law enforcement officers; calling them "unscrupulous", in my humble opinion, is completely beneath a man of your position and office.
Congressman Crowley, I write this with all due respect: Based on your statements below, I do not believe that you are very well informed on this issue, nor do you seem to be very familiar with firearms in general. Important decisions that you are faced with making, as my representative, should be based on complete familiarity and knowledge of the issue at hand, or at the very least with as much knowledge on the matter as you can possibly gather.
I am a member of the NRA, and as such can suggest various venues through which you could speak to experts on firearm designs and functions. Through such discussions, you would learn that many of the features that this ban lists would affect millions of sporting arms as well as the intended "military" type arms. This is nothing to say, of course, of the affront that such a ban is to the second amendment. I'm sure you are aware that the Circuit Court in D.C. just recently ruled that the second amendment is a right reversed by the people for defense, hunting and security of our free state, and is not a right reserved for the militia.
I also encourage you to speak to various hunting organizations and to learn of the immense benefits that hunting has on wildlife. The license fees and taxes on equipment are the main source of the millions, if not billions, of dollars that are used for conservation of one of our most precious renewable resources: our wildlife and the lands they inhabit. Bans such as this, although probably not intended to affect hunters, will indeed have an impact thru direct removal of our hunting tools. you may not believe this, but there are many states that permit hunting with "military" type weapons, and there is a huge following in that area that continues to grow every day.
I do not know if you are a hunter or not, but I'm certain that, as a hunter myself, I can also suggest various venues for you to contact that would be more than willing to discuss hunting and conservation issues with you.
Congressman Crowley, please consider my offers above to help you become more informed on these important issues. As my representative, I would hope that you would be willing to learn all you can before making a decision to cast your vote in either direction.
Thank you,
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