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Home  News Firearms Gun Rights Advancing Across The Country -- Report from the front lines
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Gun Rights Advancing Across The Country -- Report from the front lines |
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Written by bigpig
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Monday, 24 April 2006 |
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Page 1 of 2 Well, it's been a pretty good year so far.
GOA-supported legislation has passed in several state legislatures,
and in many cases, the final vote tallies have been overwhelmingly
pro-gun.
Good bills that have now become law would allow gun owners to "Stand
their Ground" when attacked, to carry concealed firearms in their
home state, and to be free from the fear of gun confiscation during a
state of emergency.
The last of these the "emergency powers" reform bills -- have been
introduced at both the federal and state levels.
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Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
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You may recall that during the post-Hurricane Katrina debacle, video
documentation surfaced showing that officials were disarming
law-abiding gun owners who were doing nothing more than keeping their
self-defense firearms available to protect their property and loved
ones. (You can view this disgusting footage at
http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the GOA website.)
Gun owner outrage led the courts in Louisiana to insist that the
practice cease, after the fact. But to keep it from happening again,
officials need to be specifically prohibited from even TRYING it.
Most states have "emergency powers" laws, and THAT is the hook
anti-gun officials use to take away your guns just when you need them
most.
This year, one of GOA's highest priorities at the state level is to
address the problems with so-called "emergency powers" across the
country. GOA-supported bills that will make it absolutely certain
that no state official could disarm the citizenry during an emergency
are currently pending in several states.
It all started when GOA supplied video footage to Rep. Steve Scalise
of Louisiana, after he had received reports of disarmament. The
video was shown in conference during a Special Session of the
legislature dealing with Katrina fallout, and the result was a 78-1
vote REQUIRING the legislature to decide on GOA-approved legislation
during Louisiana's normal session later this spring.
Meanwhile, the national movement is growing steadily. Emergency
Powers bills have been introduced in a dozen states ... with several
bills being introduced by legislators who are GOA members. Idaho,
Virginia and Mississippi have already signed their bills into law.
And six other states have passed bills out of the house or senate.
FEDERAL REPORT
In the nation's capital, two congressmen have introduced federal
versions of the "emergency powers" reform bills. In the House, Rep.
Bobby Jindal (R-LA) has introduced H.R. 5013 to prohibit the
confiscation of firearms by any federal employee.
Likewise, pro-gun Senator David Vitter (R-LA) has sponsored S. 2599
to do the same thing. GOA will be watching these two bills for you
and will keep you up-to-date on their progress.
GOA has been tracking other federal bills for you this year, but
unfortunately, the progress report is not as good:
* FREE SPEECH RESTRICTIONS. On April 5, the House of Representatives
narrowly passed HR 513 -- a bill that will regulate "527
organizations" like the Swift Boat Veterans as severely as the most
heavily regulated political groups in the country. If enacted, HR
513 could effectively eliminate organizations like the Swift Boat
Veterans. The final tally in the House was 218-209. The bill is now
in the Senate.
* FREE SPEECH PROTECTIONS. In March, GOA alerted you to legislation
that was introduced by Texas Congressmen Jeb Hensarling and Ron Paul.
Their bill (HR 1606) was good legislation to exempt the Internet from
regulation under federal "electioneering" laws. The House probably
had the votes to pass this bill, but it was yanked at the last
minute.
When the Federal Election Commission issued favorable regulations
last month, House leaders decided that HR 1606 was no longer
necessary. This was unfortunate, because a future anti-rights
administration could one day reverse the recent FEC ruling and decide
to gag bloggers and internet users in such a way that they will be
unable to criticize candidates in the days leading up to an election.
So, while we're in the clear for now, we'll have to keep watching
this issue closely.
* McCAIN'S GAG ACT. GOA has also alerted you to harmful legislation
introduced by Senator John McCain (R-AZ). McCain's bill (S. 2128) is
dead, but in typical shell-game fashion, one has to always keep his
eye on the "ball." The "ball" in this case is the bill's contents.
The troublesome provisions from McCain's legislation were included in
another bill (S. 2349) which passed the Senate in March. The
language does several things to limit the free speech rights of
Americans who want to lobby their legislators, and it eliminates some
of the legislative weapons that U.S. Senators have used in recent
years to kill anti-gun bills or to get pro-gun provisions enacted
into law.
S. 2349 passed with very few dissenting votes. In fact, the only
pro-gun Senators who voted AGAINST the bill were Oklahoma Senators
Tom Coburn and James Inhofe, and South Carolina Senators Lindsey
Graham and James DeMint. All other normally pro-gun senators voted
in favor of this troublesome bill.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 28 April 2006 )
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