GOA's Intelligence Report For The Memorial Day Recess
-- Congress to take up legislation affecting your gun rights
after extended break
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
This alert posted on the web at: http://www.gunowners.org/a053100.htm
(Wednesday, May 31, 2000) -- Congress is out of session this week,
but your representatives still need to hear from you. Below are two
items of great concern to our liberties.
Rep. Hostettler To Offer Amendments Stopping BATF From Enforcing
Recent Gun Restrictions
Remember the Clinton & Wesson agreement from back in March? Well,
pro-gun Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) is still determined to stop the
Clinton administration from imposing backdoor gun control upon a
good portion of the gun industry through its recent deal with
Smith & Wesson.
You will recall that the Clinton & Wesson agreement regulates the
sales of ALL firearms sold by dealers carrying S&W products --
including Glocks, Berettas, Brownings, etc. Moreover, no gun can be
sold by an S&W dealer until the FBI gives a definitive "yes" or
"no." Thus, if the FBI's computers go down (like they did just a
couple of weeks ago) no S&W dealer can transfer a firearm until the
government's computers go back online and the FBI gives its verdict.
Since Clinton could not get Congress to do his dirty work, he pulled
off a legislative coup d'etat by enlisting the help of S&W and the
BATF. But the Clinton & Wesson deal can only work if the BATF gets
funds to pay for their involvement in the Oversight Commission
created by the accord. That's where Hostettler hopes to score big.
He's ready to offer amendments to two appropriation bills, defunding
any BATF involvement in the pact. Without funds for the BATF, the
federal government cannot enforce the agreement.
Please stay tuned for future alerts, as GOA will keep you up to date
with Hostettler's plans. He will soon begin targeting both the HUD
appropriations bill and funding for the BATF in the Treasury-Postal
appropriations bill. (Both bills are still in committee and have
yet to receive a legislative number.)
Oppose Legislation Giving Clinton The Power To Conduct Secret
Searches On Your Property
Like a weed spreading through your garden, a provision proposing to
give the Justice Department frightening new powers keeps popping up
in bill after bill. Specifically, this "sneak and peek" provision
would let the government sneak onto your property while you were
away, seize certain items from your home and not tell you about it
for months -- if at all.
Currently, the provisions are in two bills (the bankruptcy and
methamphetamine bills), but if the provision becomes law, it would
apply to all federal agents and all searches and seizures -- not
just those affecting bankruptcy and drug cases.
Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute has noted that:
When conducting searches, federal agents are currently required
to announce their presence before entering, and to provide an
inventory of any items they take. Because the person whose home
or business is being searched knows about the search, he can
exercise his Fourth Amendment rights, and make sure that the
police have a properly-issued search warrant. He can also see if
the search is being conducted according to the warrant's terms --
i.e., the police are searching only for items authorized by the
warrant, they are searching the right address, etc. But under a
Secret Searches law, federal police could enter a person's home
surreptitiously, conduct a search, and not tell the homeowner
until months later. Even months later, the police would not have
to provide an inventory of 'intangible' items which were taken in
a search. So if the police entered your home secretly, and
photocopied your diary or made a copy of your computer hard disk,
they would never have to inform you of their actions.
Of course, one wonders what those sneaky Clinton officials will do
when they see certain "tangible" items in your home -- like that
Remington 1100 hanging in the family room, or the 9mm Beretta in the
top drawer of your desk?
ACTION: Please ask your Representative and Senators to oppose any
bill that contains these Secret Search provisions. They have already
been deleted from one bill, but still remain in the bankruptcy
reform bill (H.R. 833) and the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation
bill (H.R. 2987). The former bill, H.R. 833, is in a House-Senate
conference committee -- thus, both Senators and Representatives will
be voting on this bill again. It is expected that the latter bill,
H.R. 2987, will be voted on in the House in the near future.
You can use the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to contact Congress and send
messages. The toll-free Capitol switchboard number is
1-888-449-3511. A pre-written message is provided below.
The Clinton administration is strongly in favor of the Secret Search
proviso and is lobbying Congress to get it passed. If
administration lobbyists are thwarted in getting their expanded
powers from these two bills, they will certainly try to get the
proviso planted in other bills as well. Encourage your legislators
to read the bills they vote for (a novel idea) and to vote against
any bill that allows for officials to conduct secret searches on
your property.
NOTE for Utah activists: Sen. Orrin Hatch is one of the prime
backers of the Secret Search proviso, and he has been fervently
working at getting it snuck into different legislation. Thus, one
Republican Congressman has asked GOA to please urge its members to
let Senator Hatch know you oppose the "sneak and peek" provision.
If Sen. Hatch gets enough "heat" from his home state, he may relent
on this dangerous provision.
----- Pre-written message -----
Dear Representative or Senator,
Please oppose any and all attempts to enact "Secret Search"
provisions. Such provisions (as currently found in H.R. 833 and
H.R. 2987) would give frightening new powers to the Justice
Department at the expense of constitutional liberties.
The Fourth Amendment specifically protects a person from
unreasonable searches and seizures. However, "Secret Search"
legislation turns that amendment on its head by allowing completely
surreptitious searches. Worse, certain types of property may then
be seized -- without any notification to a homeowner whatsoever.
Private records such as computer files could be copied at will.
Such intrusive powers are usually associated with dictatorships, not
free societies.
There is no possible legislative vehicle that would be anything
other than an abomination if it contained such blatant abuses of
power.
I request that you vote against any and all legislation, regardless
of other merits, that includes "Secret Search" provisions.
Sincerely,
**********************************
Since all of the "big three" long distance companies support
anti-gun politicians or causes, one of the most common questions GOA
receives from activists is: "What long distance company is pro-gun?"
LifeLine long distance will donate 10% of your monthly bill to GOA
if you sign up with them. In addition to highly competitive rates
as low as 4.9 cents/minute, LifeLine never donates to anti-gun
causes. For details or to sign up, see the special GOA/Lifeline
page at: http://www.lifeline.net/cgi-bin/signup_form.cgi?NPONum=20378
**********************************
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.
To unsubscribe send a message to gunowners_members@mailmanager.net
with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Change of e-mail address: unsubscribe the old address and
subscribe the new using the above instructions.
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.
-- Congress to take up legislation affecting your gun rights
after extended break
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
This alert posted on the web at: http://www.gunowners.org/a053100.htm
(Wednesday, May 31, 2000) -- Congress is out of session this week,
but your representatives still need to hear from you. Below are two
items of great concern to our liberties.
Rep. Hostettler To Offer Amendments Stopping BATF From Enforcing
Recent Gun Restrictions
Remember the Clinton & Wesson agreement from back in March? Well,
pro-gun Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) is still determined to stop the
Clinton administration from imposing backdoor gun control upon a
good portion of the gun industry through its recent deal with
Smith & Wesson.
You will recall that the Clinton & Wesson agreement regulates the
sales of ALL firearms sold by dealers carrying S&W products --
including Glocks, Berettas, Brownings, etc. Moreover, no gun can be
sold by an S&W dealer until the FBI gives a definitive "yes" or
"no." Thus, if the FBI's computers go down (like they did just a
couple of weeks ago) no S&W dealer can transfer a firearm until the
government's computers go back online and the FBI gives its verdict.
Since Clinton could not get Congress to do his dirty work, he pulled
off a legislative coup d'etat by enlisting the help of S&W and the
BATF. But the Clinton & Wesson deal can only work if the BATF gets
funds to pay for their involvement in the Oversight Commission
created by the accord. That's where Hostettler hopes to score big.
He's ready to offer amendments to two appropriation bills, defunding
any BATF involvement in the pact. Without funds for the BATF, the
federal government cannot enforce the agreement.
Please stay tuned for future alerts, as GOA will keep you up to date
with Hostettler's plans. He will soon begin targeting both the HUD
appropriations bill and funding for the BATF in the Treasury-Postal
appropriations bill. (Both bills are still in committee and have
yet to receive a legislative number.)
Oppose Legislation Giving Clinton The Power To Conduct Secret
Searches On Your Property
Like a weed spreading through your garden, a provision proposing to
give the Justice Department frightening new powers keeps popping up
in bill after bill. Specifically, this "sneak and peek" provision
would let the government sneak onto your property while you were
away, seize certain items from your home and not tell you about it
for months -- if at all.
Currently, the provisions are in two bills (the bankruptcy and
methamphetamine bills), but if the provision becomes law, it would
apply to all federal agents and all searches and seizures -- not
just those affecting bankruptcy and drug cases.
Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute has noted that:
When conducting searches, federal agents are currently required
to announce their presence before entering, and to provide an
inventory of any items they take. Because the person whose home
or business is being searched knows about the search, he can
exercise his Fourth Amendment rights, and make sure that the
police have a properly-issued search warrant. He can also see if
the search is being conducted according to the warrant's terms --
i.e., the police are searching only for items authorized by the
warrant, they are searching the right address, etc. But under a
Secret Searches law, federal police could enter a person's home
surreptitiously, conduct a search, and not tell the homeowner
until months later. Even months later, the police would not have
to provide an inventory of 'intangible' items which were taken in
a search. So if the police entered your home secretly, and
photocopied your diary or made a copy of your computer hard disk,
they would never have to inform you of their actions.
Of course, one wonders what those sneaky Clinton officials will do
when they see certain "tangible" items in your home -- like that
Remington 1100 hanging in the family room, or the 9mm Beretta in the
top drawer of your desk?
ACTION: Please ask your Representative and Senators to oppose any
bill that contains these Secret Search provisions. They have already
been deleted from one bill, but still remain in the bankruptcy
reform bill (H.R. 833) and the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation
bill (H.R. 2987). The former bill, H.R. 833, is in a House-Senate
conference committee -- thus, both Senators and Representatives will
be voting on this bill again. It is expected that the latter bill,
H.R. 2987, will be voted on in the House in the near future.
You can use the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to contact Congress and send
messages. The toll-free Capitol switchboard number is
1-888-449-3511. A pre-written message is provided below.
The Clinton administration is strongly in favor of the Secret Search
proviso and is lobbying Congress to get it passed. If
administration lobbyists are thwarted in getting their expanded
powers from these two bills, they will certainly try to get the
proviso planted in other bills as well. Encourage your legislators
to read the bills they vote for (a novel idea) and to vote against
any bill that allows for officials to conduct secret searches on
your property.
NOTE for Utah activists: Sen. Orrin Hatch is one of the prime
backers of the Secret Search proviso, and he has been fervently
working at getting it snuck into different legislation. Thus, one
Republican Congressman has asked GOA to please urge its members to
let Senator Hatch know you oppose the "sneak and peek" provision.
If Sen. Hatch gets enough "heat" from his home state, he may relent
on this dangerous provision.
----- Pre-written message -----
Dear Representative or Senator,
Please oppose any and all attempts to enact "Secret Search"
provisions. Such provisions (as currently found in H.R. 833 and
H.R. 2987) would give frightening new powers to the Justice
Department at the expense of constitutional liberties.
The Fourth Amendment specifically protects a person from
unreasonable searches and seizures. However, "Secret Search"
legislation turns that amendment on its head by allowing completely
surreptitious searches. Worse, certain types of property may then
be seized -- without any notification to a homeowner whatsoever.
Private records such as computer files could be copied at will.
Such intrusive powers are usually associated with dictatorships, not
free societies.
There is no possible legislative vehicle that would be anything
other than an abomination if it contained such blatant abuses of
power.
I request that you vote against any and all legislation, regardless
of other merits, that includes "Secret Search" provisions.
Sincerely,
**********************************
Since all of the "big three" long distance companies support
anti-gun politicians or causes, one of the most common questions GOA
receives from activists is: "What long distance company is pro-gun?"
LifeLine long distance will donate 10% of your monthly bill to GOA
if you sign up with them. In addition to highly competitive rates
as low as 4.9 cents/minute, LifeLine never donates to anti-gun
causes. For details or to sign up, see the special GOA/Lifeline
page at: http://www.lifeline.net/cgi-bin/signup_form.cgi?NPONum=20378
**********************************
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.
To unsubscribe send a message to gunowners_members@mailmanager.net
with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Change of e-mail address: unsubscribe the old address and
subscribe the new using the above instructions.
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.