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SENATE SELLS-OUT GUN OWNERS
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On May 20, the last day of debate on gun control amendments
to S. 254, the Juvenile Justice Reform Bill, the U.S. Senate
abandoned law-abiding gun owners when it passed by a 50-50 vote
(with Vice President Al Gore casting the deciding vote), a
slightly-modified, yet completely intrusive version of the
Lautenberg anti-gun show amendment. Rejected last week (see
FAX
Alert Vol. 6, No. 18), the Lautenberg Amendment now:
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- Defines a gun show as as an event where just one person
offers 50 or more firearms for sale
- Mandates that information on particular firearms sold be
sent to BATF -- a requirement that doesn't even exist at gun
stores -- with the obvious intent of setting up a national
registry of law-abiding gun owners
- Allows the FBI to charge an unlimited gun tax for
background check -- and now guarantees that the FBI can
keep files on lawful purchasers for 90 days, rather than the
record destruction mandated in last year's Smith Amendment
Immediately after his tie-breaking vote,
Gore took to the
airwaves to applaud those Senators who voted against NRA. If S.
254 is enacted into law in its current form, it absolutely will
end gun shows as we have always known them.
Republican Senator
John Warner (Va.) cast the deciding vote in favor of Lautenberg,
thus causing the 50-50 split, and leaving the fate of this vote
to Al Gore. All members should contact Sen. Warner at...
...and express their
strongest
displeasure with his siding with the Clinton-Gore Administration
on this critical gun vote.
Also added to the bill this week was
an amendment by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), requiring licensed
dealers to sell locking devices with firearms, on a 78-20 vote,
despite the fact that most guns (approx. 80%) already provide
locks with their firearms. The amendment did, however, provide
qualified immunity for individuals who use these devices if their
guns are accessed and misused by unauthorized persons.
NRA opposed final passage of S. 254, but it passed the
Senate on a 73-25 vote, and the fight now moves to the House,
which will soon begin work on its own juvenile justice bill.
Rest assured the anti-gunners in the House are already preparing
to push many of their own anti-gun amendments to the House bill,
so please call your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, and
urge him to reject any gun control amendments to the House Juvenile Justice Bill.
(Webmaster note: Click here for Lautenberg Amendment details.)
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This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.
This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is
available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org
