Hostettler and Smith Combine Forces to Deliver Pro-gun Victories!
-- Gun activists play key role
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
(Thursday, October 12, 2000)
"Demil" Provision Removed
GOA warned you last month about a very dangerous provision in the
DoD authorization bill (H.R. 4205). This provision would have
allowed the Defense Department to collect and destroy certain
privately owned militaria -- including your M1 Carbine, 1903
Springfield, Colt SAA, and more.
The House passed the bill yesterday on a 382-31 vote, and GOA is
happy to report that the "demil" provision has been stricken. There
are three reasons for this:
* First, you guys rang the phones off the hook over the last month.
Thanks to your involvement, legislators on Capitol Hill quickly
learned there was a problem in the DoD bill and worked to satisfy
their unhappy constituents.
* Second, Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN).
* Third, Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH).
Both Hostettler and Smith worked tirelessly to make sure this
dangerous demilitarization provision was removed from the bill. Gun
owners should thank them for their efforts.
Clinton Gun Control Scheme Receives A Setback
In other good news, Rep. Hostettler succeeded in keeping pro-gun
language in the same DoD bill. Hostettler amended this bill in May
when he inserted language to bar the Department of Defense from
giving Smith & Wesson preferential treatment in government
contracts.
As one of the conference-committee members, Hostettler was
instrumental in keeping this pro-gun provision in the bill. Thus,
DoD will be prohibited by law, from rewarding the gun maker for the
anti-gun deal that it cut with the Clinton administration in March
-- an agreement that imposes all kinds of new gun control upon
dealers and gun buyers.
Gun owners should thank Rep. Hostettler for his determined efforts
to preserve our 2nd Amendment rights.
BATF Strikes Again!
On August 28, 2000, BATF launched its most recent attack on the
Second Amendment. Its proposed regulation (contained at page 52054
et seq. in the Federal Register of August 28, 2000) would require
FFLs to conduct an annual gun inventory.
While not the obvious threat of other Clinton-Gore proposals, such
as national gun registration, this proposed regulation nevertheless
represents the most recent installment in efforts by the
Clinton-Gore administration to inflict on the Second Amendment a
"death by a thousand cuts."
It is therefore important that law-abiding gun owners make their
voices heard with respect to this most recent unconstitutional,
unjustifiable effort by this administration to harass its political
opposition.
Here are some of the arguments against the regulation:
1. BATF gives no significant justification for inconveniencing
law-abiding businesses. It cites "1,271 crime guns" which had been
stolen without the theft having been reported. The problem is
there is no evidence that the subsequent crimes committed with
these guns could have been prevented or the guns more easily traced
had the thefts been detected and reported. To the contrary, BATF
appears to have been able to locate each shipper and trace each gun
with no difficulty. How would a mandatory annual inventory improve
this?
2. Contrary to BATF's misrepresentations, the burden on businesses
of conducting an annual government-mandated inventory will be far
greater than it asserts. Furthermore, the burden will fall on
active dealers and inactive ones -- presumably for the purpose of
further discouraging law-abiding Americans from holding federal
firearms licenses.
3. BATF's ability to impose additional regulatory requirements in
connection with the annual inspections are open-ended, and
inspections could be required "[a]t any other time the Director of
Industry Operations may in writing require" -- even if he decides
to require daily inspections.
Small to medium size gun dealers could be easily harassed into
early retirement, thus having the effect of "drying up the well" as
far as the gun supply is concerned. The supply of gun dealers will
be greatly reduced, resulting in higher gun prices. Moreover, the
BATF will be able to focus its resources to crack down on the few
remaining dealers in existence, as government studies will, no
doubt, claim these few dealers are resulting in a high rate of
sales to criminals.
4. Finally, BATF's efforts to micromanage the exercise of a
constitutional right are unconstitutional. Its attempts to harass
gun dealers -- and only gun dealers -- can only be viewed as
analogous to prohibitively expensive regulatory burdens applied
only to newspapers, to civil rights organizations, or to defense
attorneys.
ACTION: The BATF is receiving comments from concerned Americans
until November 27, 2000. Please consider using the above talking
points to submit your comments in opposition to the regulations. Or
view the regulations at http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/rules/notice902.pdf (with Acrobat
Reader) on the internet and formulate your own letter in opposition.
There are two ways to submit your comments:
Email: nprm@atfhq.atf.treas.gov
Mail: Chief, Regulations Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms; P.O. Box 50221; Washington, DC 20091-0221; ATTN: Notice
No. 902
NOTE: Written comments must be signed. E-mail comments must
contain your name, mailing address, and e-mail address. They must
also reference the notice number (No. 902) and be legible when
printed on not more than three pages 8 1/2 x 11 inches in size.
They will treat e-mail as originals and will not acknowledge receipt
of e-mail.
**************
Sheriff Richard Mack is the Director of Public Affairs for Gun
Owners of America. Mack took the Brady Law to the Supreme Court
where the judges agreed that the Feds could not force a local
official to perform a background check. Sheriff Mack now has an
electronic newsletter. Please stop by http://www.gunvote2000.com
and look it over.
-- Gun activists play key role
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
(Thursday, October 12, 2000)
"Demil" Provision Removed
GOA warned you last month about a very dangerous provision in the
DoD authorization bill (H.R. 4205). This provision would have
allowed the Defense Department to collect and destroy certain
privately owned militaria -- including your M1 Carbine, 1903
Springfield, Colt SAA, and more.
The House passed the bill yesterday on a 382-31 vote, and GOA is
happy to report that the "demil" provision has been stricken. There
are three reasons for this:
* First, you guys rang the phones off the hook over the last month.
Thanks to your involvement, legislators on Capitol Hill quickly
learned there was a problem in the DoD bill and worked to satisfy
their unhappy constituents.
* Second, Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN).
* Third, Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH).
Both Hostettler and Smith worked tirelessly to make sure this
dangerous demilitarization provision was removed from the bill. Gun
owners should thank them for their efforts.
Clinton Gun Control Scheme Receives A Setback
In other good news, Rep. Hostettler succeeded in keeping pro-gun
language in the same DoD bill. Hostettler amended this bill in May
when he inserted language to bar the Department of Defense from
giving Smith & Wesson preferential treatment in government
contracts.
As one of the conference-committee members, Hostettler was
instrumental in keeping this pro-gun provision in the bill. Thus,
DoD will be prohibited by law, from rewarding the gun maker for the
anti-gun deal that it cut with the Clinton administration in March
-- an agreement that imposes all kinds of new gun control upon
dealers and gun buyers.
Gun owners should thank Rep. Hostettler for his determined efforts
to preserve our 2nd Amendment rights.
BATF Strikes Again!
On August 28, 2000, BATF launched its most recent attack on the
Second Amendment. Its proposed regulation (contained at page 52054
et seq. in the Federal Register of August 28, 2000) would require
FFLs to conduct an annual gun inventory.
While not the obvious threat of other Clinton-Gore proposals, such
as national gun registration, this proposed regulation nevertheless
represents the most recent installment in efforts by the
Clinton-Gore administration to inflict on the Second Amendment a
"death by a thousand cuts."
It is therefore important that law-abiding gun owners make their
voices heard with respect to this most recent unconstitutional,
unjustifiable effort by this administration to harass its political
opposition.
Here are some of the arguments against the regulation:
1. BATF gives no significant justification for inconveniencing
law-abiding businesses. It cites "1,271 crime guns" which had been
stolen without the theft having been reported. The problem is
there is no evidence that the subsequent crimes committed with
these guns could have been prevented or the guns more easily traced
had the thefts been detected and reported. To the contrary, BATF
appears to have been able to locate each shipper and trace each gun
with no difficulty. How would a mandatory annual inventory improve
this?
2. Contrary to BATF's misrepresentations, the burden on businesses
of conducting an annual government-mandated inventory will be far
greater than it asserts. Furthermore, the burden will fall on
active dealers and inactive ones -- presumably for the purpose of
further discouraging law-abiding Americans from holding federal
firearms licenses.
3. BATF's ability to impose additional regulatory requirements in
connection with the annual inspections are open-ended, and
inspections could be required "[a]t any other time the Director of
Industry Operations may in writing require" -- even if he decides
to require daily inspections.
Small to medium size gun dealers could be easily harassed into
early retirement, thus having the effect of "drying up the well" as
far as the gun supply is concerned. The supply of gun dealers will
be greatly reduced, resulting in higher gun prices. Moreover, the
BATF will be able to focus its resources to crack down on the few
remaining dealers in existence, as government studies will, no
doubt, claim these few dealers are resulting in a high rate of
sales to criminals.
4. Finally, BATF's efforts to micromanage the exercise of a
constitutional right are unconstitutional. Its attempts to harass
gun dealers -- and only gun dealers -- can only be viewed as
analogous to prohibitively expensive regulatory burdens applied
only to newspapers, to civil rights organizations, or to defense
attorneys.
ACTION: The BATF is receiving comments from concerned Americans
until November 27, 2000. Please consider using the above talking
points to submit your comments in opposition to the regulations. Or
view the regulations at http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/rules/notice902.pdf (with Acrobat
Reader) on the internet and formulate your own letter in opposition.
There are two ways to submit your comments:
Email: nprm@atfhq.atf.treas.gov
Mail: Chief, Regulations Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms; P.O. Box 50221; Washington, DC 20091-0221; ATTN: Notice
No. 902
NOTE: Written comments must be signed. E-mail comments must
contain your name, mailing address, and e-mail address. They must
also reference the notice number (No. 902) and be legible when
printed on not more than three pages 8 1/2 x 11 inches in size.
They will treat e-mail as originals and will not acknowledge receipt
of e-mail.
**************
Sheriff Richard Mack is the Director of Public Affairs for Gun
Owners of America. Mack took the Brady Law to the Supreme Court
where the judges agreed that the Feds could not force a local
official to perform a background check. Sheriff Mack now has an
electronic newsletter. Please stop by http://www.gunvote2000.com
and look it over.