It is no secret among gun owners that Vice President Al Gore, the odds-on favorite to receive the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2000, has no love for the Second Amendment. But recently Gore has taken every opportunity to convince America that he is the unquestionable candidate of choice for the anti-gun community. As we previously reported,
Gore cast the deciding, tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate on the Lautenberg gun show amendment (see FAX Alert Vol. 6, No. 19). On Monday, July 12, while campaigning in Boston, Mass., he stated that, if elected President, he would push for a federal mandate that all states implement their own licensing system for handgun buyers. Gore also called for a ban on affordable self-defense handguns. Gore's only apparent Democrat challenger, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley (N.J.), who in the past has called for a total ban on handguns, tried to grab the banner as the most anti-gun candidate when his spokesman, Eric Hauser, claimed that Bradley's anti-gun proposals go farther, according to a July 13 Washington Post article. While Gore and Bradley fight for top anti-gun honors, NRA will continue to ask why proven, real solutions, like enforcing existing firearm laws before proposing new ones, are still being ignored by the Clinton-Gore Administration and their opponents?
U.S. HOUSE DEFEATS ANTI-GUN AMENDMENTS
Earlier this week, the House Appropriations Committee defeated three anti-gun amendments offered for the Treasury-Postal-General Operations (TPGO) Appropriations bill. The first, offered by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), was a repeat of the Lautenberg gun show amendment passed by the U.S. Senate in May, and was defeated on a 35-24 vote. The Committee then defeated Rep. Nita Lowey's (D-N.Y.) attempt to offer the Hyde Magazine Import Ban amendment and Rep. Rosa DeLauro's (D-Conn.) attempt to attach the Davis "Safe Storage Device" amendment, both by 34-24 votes. Both the Hyde and Davis amendments had been attached to the House juvenile justice package individually, but were defeated along with all other firearm-related provisions on a bipartisan vote (See FAX Alert Vol. 6, No. 23). Our thanks go out to those who voted against these provisions, and especially to Reps. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.), Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Cal.), Tom Delay (R-Tex.), Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), and Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), who spoke out for the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
NICS CONTINUES TO EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS
FFL holders across the country, as well as their law-abiding customers, experienced considerable problems this week due to attempts to "upgrade" the National Instant Check System (NICS). The upgrade was initiated on Sunday and was expected to leave NICS inoperable for less than an hour. However, the system was up and down over the course of several days, causing considerable problems, including the loss of business. While FBI assures us that the problems have been remedied, we remain skeptical about future outages. Also, in the same vein of problems with NICS, NRA is still very interested in hearing about problems experienced with NICS, whether they are from FFL holders or firearm purchasers. If you have experienced any serious problems with the implementation of the NICS check, document what happened in writing, and let us know by U.S. Mail. Please carefully document your experience, and mail the information to: NICS Problems, NRA-ILA, 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA, 22030-7400. We ask that you only send this information via U.S. Mail, and be sure to include all available contact information, especially telephone numbers, so that we can contact you if necessary. Finally, on July 7, U.S. District Judge James Robertson dismissed National Rifle Association of America, Inc., et al. v. Janet Reno, NRA's legal challenge to end the FBI's registration of gun buyers whose lawful purchases are subject to a National Instant Check System (NICS) check. Judge Robertson completely ignored one of the three primary arguments our lawsuit made challenging FBI's actions, and arbitrarily dismissed the others. This ruling was not unexpected, however, considering Robertson is a Clinton appointee, and Stephen Halbrook, NRA's counsel in this case, filed a notice of appeal the following day.
SEN. SMITH RESIGNS FROM GOP
Pro-gun U.S. Senator Bob Smith (N.H.) announced his resignation from the Republican party this week, citing, among other things, disagreements with the actions of some Republicans
in supporting gun control. His decision shows that the Second Amendment is not a Republican or Democratic issue, but an issue of basic constitutional rights that should be respected by all
Americans.
PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT COMMUNITY SADDENED BY TRAGIC LOSS
Colorado Secretary of State Vikki Buckley, the nation's highest ranking black Republican woman and staunch defender of the Second Amendment, tragically passed away Wednesday, July 14, the victim of a massive heart attack. While many politicians cynically distanced themselves from NRA in the wake of the Littleton, Colo. tragedy, Buckley embraced our nation's law-abiding firearm owners and volunteered to give the welcoming address at NRA's Annual Meeting of Members in Denver last April, offering that hatred, not the availability of guns, was the cause of violence at Columbine High. Ms. Buckley will be greatly missed as a pioneer, leader, and outspoken advocate of the Second Amendment. For a copy of Ms. Buckley's welcoming address at NRA's Annual Meeting of Members, please contact NRA-ILA Grassroots Division at (800)392-8683.
A LOOK AT THE STATES
UTAH: On Wednesday, July 21, the Joint Law Enforcement and Judiciary Cmtes. will hold an interim hearing on various gun-control proposals for the upcoming special session on firearms. Members are encouraged to attend this hearing in Room 303 of the State Capitol from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. to speak in opposition to these proposals. In the event that you are unable to attend, continue to contact your lawmakers in their district offices in opposition to the special session.
