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Federal Lawsuit Takes On Pennsylvania Abuse Of Gun Owner Privacy
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
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Anyone looking for a pro-freedom 2005 tax deduction? If so, please
consider making a contribution to help Gun Owners Foundation fight
gun control in the Pennsylvania courts before the end of the year.
As residents of the state know, the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act
(UFA) requires gun owners to disclose their Social Security Numbers
to dealers and Sheriffs when transferring guns or when applying for a
License to Carry Firearms (LTCF).
The law even requires that the Social Security Numbers be printed
upon the license to carry!
It's bad enough that the state of Pennsylvania requires people to
register themselves as gun owners in order to exercise their right to
bear arms. (The states of Vermont and Alaska allow their citizens to
carry firearms -- without being registered -- and enjoy very low
levels of crime.)
But it gets quite aggravating when the state facilitates that
registration system by linking gun owners to their Social Security
Number (a number which the sponsors of the original SSN system
decades ago promised would never become a National ID number.)
Registration leads to confiscation. That has been the history of
registration in other countries, and it has even occurred in our own
country (for example, in New York City under Mayor David Dinkin's
administration).
Well, an ongoing SSN/gun rights lawsuit (Stollenwerk v. Miller et
al.) now challenges the UFA's requirement that gun owners disclose
their social security numbers.
The lawsuit has been going well so far, but things are getting hot
and heavy and more money is needed to win in district court and then
prevail on a likely appeal.
If this lawsuit prevails, SSN disclosures to gun dealers and Sheriffs
will become optional and all LTCF holders will be able to get a new
license without their Social Security numbers printed upon it.
Additionally, the ruling would provide persuasive case law authority
to fix other states' abuses of gun owner SSN privacy rights, and
allow the federal courts in Pennsylvania to explicitly recognize
Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution as providing
an individual right to bear arms -- something that the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court already did in Ortiz v. Commonwealth, 681 A.2d 152, 156
(Pa. 1996) holding that the "ownership of firearms is
constitutionally protected" under the Pennsylvania constitution.
You may send tax deductible contributions to support this lawsuit
through GOA's "Gun Owners Foundation." Just visit the GOF
website at
http://www.gunowners.com/stollenwerk.htm and make your contribution
by credit card.
Or, you can contribute by mail. Write the check to "Gun Owners
Foundation," and then on the memo line, write "Stollenwerk
Assistance
Fund," and address the envelope to:
Gun Owners Foundation
8001 Forbes Place
Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
All contributors will get an e-mailed receipt, followed by a printed
thank you note and documentation of the **tax deductible** status of
their contribution from Gun Owners Foundation.
Thank you!
-----------------------
NOTE: The court case is Stollenwerk v. Miller et al., Docket No.
04-5510, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF
PENNSYLVANIA. The lawsuit was filed under Section 1983 of the
federal Civil Rights Act to vindicate gun owners' "privacy rights as
protected by the federal Privacy Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-579, 88
Stat. 1896, 2194, 5 U.S.C. 552a (note), the Second and Fourteenth
Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 1
and 21 of Pennsylvania's State Constitution." See
http://www.gunowners.com/stollenwerk.pdf for the complete brief.
****************************
Please do not reply directly to this message, as your reply will
bounce back as undeliverable.
To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.
To unsubscribe send a message to
[email protected] with the word unsubscribe in
the subject line or use the url below.
Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address
[email protected] 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.
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
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Anyone looking for a pro-freedom 2005 tax deduction? If so, please
consider making a contribution to help Gun Owners Foundation fight
gun control in the Pennsylvania courts before the end of the year.
As residents of the state know, the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act
(UFA) requires gun owners to disclose their Social Security Numbers
to dealers and Sheriffs when transferring guns or when applying for a
License to Carry Firearms (LTCF).
The law even requires that the Social Security Numbers be printed
upon the license to carry!
It's bad enough that the state of Pennsylvania requires people to
register themselves as gun owners in order to exercise their right to
bear arms. (The states of Vermont and Alaska allow their citizens to
carry firearms -- without being registered -- and enjoy very low
levels of crime.)
But it gets quite aggravating when the state facilitates that
registration system by linking gun owners to their Social Security
Number (a number which the sponsors of the original SSN system
decades ago promised would never become a National ID number.)
Registration leads to confiscation. That has been the history of
registration in other countries, and it has even occurred in our own
country (for example, in New York City under Mayor David Dinkin's
administration).
Well, an ongoing SSN/gun rights lawsuit (Stollenwerk v. Miller et
al.) now challenges the UFA's requirement that gun owners disclose
their social security numbers.
The lawsuit has been going well so far, but things are getting hot
and heavy and more money is needed to win in district court and then
prevail on a likely appeal.
If this lawsuit prevails, SSN disclosures to gun dealers and Sheriffs
will become optional and all LTCF holders will be able to get a new
license without their Social Security numbers printed upon it.
Additionally, the ruling would provide persuasive case law authority
to fix other states' abuses of gun owner SSN privacy rights, and
allow the federal courts in Pennsylvania to explicitly recognize
Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution as providing
an individual right to bear arms -- something that the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court already did in Ortiz v. Commonwealth, 681 A.2d 152, 156
(Pa. 1996) holding that the "ownership of firearms is
constitutionally protected" under the Pennsylvania constitution.
You may send tax deductible contributions to support this lawsuit
through GOA's "Gun Owners Foundation." Just visit the GOF
website at
http://www.gunowners.com/stollenwerk.htm and make your contribution
by credit card.
Or, you can contribute by mail. Write the check to "Gun Owners
Foundation," and then on the memo line, write "Stollenwerk
Assistance
Fund," and address the envelope to:
Gun Owners Foundation
8001 Forbes Place
Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
All contributors will get an e-mailed receipt, followed by a printed
thank you note and documentation of the **tax deductible** status of
their contribution from Gun Owners Foundation.
Thank you!
-----------------------
NOTE: The court case is Stollenwerk v. Miller et al., Docket No.
04-5510, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF
PENNSYLVANIA. The lawsuit was filed under Section 1983 of the
federal Civil Rights Act to vindicate gun owners' "privacy rights as
protected by the federal Privacy Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-579, 88
Stat. 1896, 2194, 5 U.S.C. 552a (note), the Second and Fourteenth
Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 1
and 21 of Pennsylvania's State Constitution." See
http://www.gunowners.com/stollenwerk.pdf for the complete brief.
****************************
Please do not reply directly to this message, as your reply will
bounce back as undeliverable.
To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.
To unsubscribe send a message to
[email protected] with the word unsubscribe in
the subject line or use the url below.
Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address
[email protected] 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.
