I phone-called, snail-mailed and emailed my state rep and cc'd Dennis Hastert. The phone call put me in touch with "Tim," who politely listened to my opinions. He said that my rep's office would respond more directly via email or snail. For example, here is what I wrote (feel free to plagarize as necessary, but don't choke this thread with long copies of everyone's letters, please): ***"It has come to my attention that the House has given S.254, the Senate's Lautenberg gun control amendment, a virtual green light. Apparently it is the opinion of many that lawful gun owners are not upset nor will they be negatively affected by the Lautenberg amendment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Please reject the Lautenberg amendment. It is far too flawed to even be considered. Please encourage passage of a simpler bill that will not infringe on our Second Amendment rights, and one that does not assume every lawful gun owner to be a potential criminal. Politicians should support fully funded NICS background checks for all retail gun purchases - storefront, pawn shop, or gun show. Gunowners can support inclusion of trigger locks with new guns, as long as they are not part of a dubious "mandatory safe storage" package. We must vigorously oppose the de-facto registration scheme created by Lautenberg's 90-day NICS retention mandate. Registration is federally illegal, and it invariably leads to confiscation (see California right now). We must insist on bringing the system into line with its creators' intent - true instant check - approve or reject instantly, with a fair process to appeal rejections. Approvals must be instantly purged from the system. We must not allow arbitrary taxes and surcharges to be tacked on to NICS checks - the program should be fully funded by Congress, as its creators intended. Please don't let the tragedy at Columbine cloud your better judgement. None of Lautenberg's draconian regulations would have prevented the massacre. Vermont [my home state] has the least gun control in the nation, and annually vies for lowest crime rate with several other gun-friendly states. This is not a coincidence. Please let me know how you intend to approach this issue."*** GET ON THE STICK! www.house.gov has the contact information. I know we don't all support background checks and included trigger locks. But the political reality is, if we don't offer a simpler, alternative bill with fewer regulations, S.254 WILL BECOME LAW. BVT