alan
Member
GOA's Gun Rights Report for 2006
-- Taking the fight to the front lines
-----------------------------------------------------
"GOA's help in pushing my amendment to prohibit gun confiscation...
was a huge help, and it was very effective. I look forward to
working on many other issues with GOA." -- U.S. Senator David Vitter
(R-LA), July 13, 2006
----------------------------------------------------
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/ordergoamem.htm
Thursday, December 14, 2006
There's a lot of danger looming on the horizon. When the next
Congress is sworn in January, a committed gun hater and supporter of
gun confiscation, Nancy Pelosi, will take the reins in the House.
The democratic congresswoman from California is rabidly anti-gun.
She holds an F- rating from Gun Owners of America and has
consistently championed socialist "values." The new Majority Leader
in the Senate, Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, also holds an F- rating
from GOA.
Both Pelosi and Reid have worked hard to earn their failing grades,
and now, they will be setting the agenda on gun control issues. Gun
owners will have to remain vigilant in a way that we have not had to
for more than a decade. But lest we forget, there was much that we
were able to accomplish this year. Just consider some of the
victories that we achieved together.
*** January -- March
Gun Owners lobbied on all kinds of issues at the state level this
year. But, perhaps, the most gratifying victories centered on the
Emergency Protection bills that protect the rights of Americans to
keep and bear arms in the wake of a natural disaster.
Gun owners will remember that a little over a year ago -- in the wake
of Hurricane Katrina -- police began stealing the guns of law-abiding
residents in New Orleans. This travesty exposed the fact that,
similar to Louisiana, several states had laws which gave enormous
(although unconstitutional) powers to Governors to regulate or ban
firearms during an emergency.
GOA sprung into action, first, by posting videos of the gun
confiscation on our website. GOA then began working in several state
legislatures, as GOA-supported bills were introduced all across the
nation to repeal these pernicious state codes.
GOA spent a lot of time in Louisiana, getting gun owners in the state
to lobby their own legislators in favor of a change in the law. The
results were astounding, as the state sponsor of the "Emergency
Protection" act credited GOA with helping him get 80% of the House of
Representatives to cosponsor his bill.
Rep. Steve Scalise, told GOA that, "I've had a number of
[Representatives] come up to me asking to co-author my bill because
they heard from members of Gun Owners of America in their districts
in support of my bill."
Not only that, Scalise said that the GOA-produced videos which
contained media footage of the gun thefts were instrumental in
helping him convince lawmakers that gun confiscation had actually
occurred. (Yes, it's true. Many of his legislative colleagues had
no idea gun confiscation had occurred in New Orleans.)
In the end, Louisiana was one of ten states that GOA spent time in,
working to enact their Emergency Protection bills into law.
*** April -- June
With most of the state legislatures ending, GOA turned its sights on
pro-gun bills at the national level. GOA used the Internet and the
mail to mobilize gun owners in support of the Vitter-Jindal bills,
which were federal versions of Emergency Protection legislation that
passed in almost a dozen states.
GOA also spent time defending gun owners' rights in the courts.
After San Francisco voters decided to ban handguns within their city
limits, Gun Owners' founder and chairman, Sen. H.L. Richardson,
submitted an amicus brief contesting the new edict.
While serving as a California state senator for more than two
decades, Richardson had drafted (and passed) preemption legislation
which bans localities from doing what the Bay City did.
In June, Superior Court Judge James Warren agreed with the Gun Owners
Foundation-funded amicus brief and overturned the voter-approved
measure, citing Richardson's law as prohibiting the city from banning
guns.
At the same time, GOA started alerting people to the upcoming UN gun
control conference, which would take place over the July 4 holiday.
In the days leading up to the conference, Gun Owners of America
activated its grassroots network, generating thousands of messages
into Senate and State Department offices.
GOA used the mail, radio, and Internet for several months, urging gun
owner support for legislation to instantly cut off US funds to the
United Nations. In addition to contacting the Congress, GOA also
urged gun owners to contact the State Department delegation which
attended the UN conference.
*** July
GOA members were on hand to protest the UN and give interviews to the
New York Times on the opening day of its gun control summit. Fox
News reported that "Groups like Gun Owners of America... [are]
heavily lobbying against the symposium here at the U.N."
Despite high expectations in the gun-grabbing community, the
conference would not end favorably for Brady-types all around the
globe. As indicated above, GOA was very active in the weeks and
months leading up to the July 4 gun control conference. And with the
conclusion of the conference, press reports indicated that our active
participation was well worth the effort.
According to Reuters, the conference ended in a "total
meltdown" and
"chaos." No formal paper was adopted, and no plan for future action
was agreed to.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), in a column appearing on the day before the
conference was to begin, praised gun owners for having responded to
the call to action with "an avalanche of letters" to the American
delegation, asking that none of our tax dollars be used to further UN
anti-gun proposals.
July was also an important month because both the House and Senate
passed their respective versions of the Emergency Protection Act.
The bill was signed into law by President Bush in October.
*** August
Most lobby groups in Washington get to take a vacation in August, as
Congress goes out of town for its summer recess. But Gun Owners went
to work, lobbying hard against the expansion of the Brady Act -- a
bill introduced by F- rated Carolyn McCarthy. Her bill (HR 1415) is
designed to suck in even more innocent, unsuspecting gun owners into
the web of gun owner disarmament.
GOA members and activists overwhelmingly responded to our internet
and postal alerts over the August recess, resulting in untold
thousands of postcards and emails being dumped on legislators' desks
in opposition to HR 1415.
The results were astounding, as indicated by the following quote from
a congressional office: "Oh s--t! We got a lot of postcards and
e-mails from GOA members."
It's a good thing those postcards and e-mails were sent by our
members, too, because GOA was the only Second Amendment group in
Washington opposing McCarthy's attack.
*** September
Part of the confusion over the McCarthy gun grab was that pro-gun
lobbyists in the nation's capital were encouraging House members to
support her anti-gun bill. For this reason, when the House Judiciary
Committee was scheduled to vote on HR 1415 in early September, the
McCarthy gun bill was expected to easily pass.
But that was before thousands upon thousands of postcards and emails
from GOA members began flooding legislative offices. When the
Judiciary Committee met in September, they reported two
firearms-related bills to the floor of the House -- but they
specifically passed over the McCarthy bill (even though it was
scheduled to come up for a vote).
Thanks to the active support of GOA members, legislators decided they
didn't want to touch this "hot potato." The tidal wave of
grassroots
opposition buried the gun control bill as legislative offices on
Capitol Hill told GOA, "We've heard your postcards and e-mails loud
and clear!"
*** October -- November
Gun Owners were very involved in the recent elections, as our
political victory fund helped elect several, new, outstanding pro-gun
legislators to Congress. GOA-PVF directly assisted several of these
new congressmen, while GOA helped expose the anti-gun records of
those who were selling out gun owners' rights.
GOA is famous for its extensive Candidate Rating which is posted
every two years on our website, and has been published in many
pro-gun magazines over the years. But the Brady Campaign hates this
fact, and they have asked the Federal Election Commission to
investigate GOA's practice of posting its candidate ratings on the
Internet.
Millions of gun owners rely on these ratings, but obviously, that is
something the Brady Bunch would like to end. They want to keep you
in the dark! They don't want you to know the truth. The more they
can hide what anti-gun legislators are doing, the greater their
ability to take away your guns.
A decision by the FEC is currently pending. While this could become
a costly battle for Gun Owners of America, we still plan to fight it
in the courts. But this won't be the only court battle that is
carrying-over to the next year. As the year comes to an end, there
are three very-high profile cases in which Gun Owners Foundation is
involved.
First, GOA's foundation stood alongside the Attorney General of
Wyoming in defiance of the BATFE. The agency wants to overturn a
Wyoming law, introduced by Senator Cale Case, which essentially
allows state residents (who are disqualified to own firearms because
of the federal Lautenberg gun ban) to find a legal way of getting
around the federal ban. While the BATFE is opposing this law in
court, GOA is in the state, helping to protect the rights of gun
owners.
This case is extremely important, because if GOF can win in Wyoming,
then Case's law can be used as a model in other states, thus allowing
innocent gun owners -- who were unsuspectingly disarmed for life --
to own guns once again.
Another one of GOF's high-profile cases is in Montana, where we are
helping to defend Rick Celata, the owner of KT Ordinance. KTO makes
parts kits for individuals who want to make their own firearms, which
is legal as long as the owner does not sell the firearm to another
person. The BATFE has raided Celata and confiscated all of his part
kits, although the agency has yet to charge him with any criminal
wrongdoing. Nevertheless, Celata's firearms have been put up for
forfeiture.
Finally, GOF is assisting Bob Arwady, a gun dealer in Texas. The
BATFE vendetta against gun stores in general -- and Bob Arwady in
particular -- has dragged on for years. The BATFE lost their effort
to jail Arwady when he showed in federal court that their three
witnesses were liars. The jury acquitted him. But that has not
stopped the BATFE from their current effort to pull Arwady's dealer's
license -- an effort which amounts to nothing more than the agency's
attempt to punish and harass someone for having continuously beaten
them in court.
As you can see, both Gun Owners of America and its foundation have
been working to defend your rights all over the country. And we
certainly look forward to working together with you again next year.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO YOUR PRO-GUN FRIENDS AND FAMILY. We
are going to be fighting a lot of battles in the next Congress, and
it's good for gun owners all across the country to go into these
skirmishes with a reminder that we can accomplish much together (and
that we have done so in the past).
Thanks for standing with us. You can go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm to make sure that your
support remains current.
******************************
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.
-- Taking the fight to the front lines
-----------------------------------------------------
"GOA's help in pushing my amendment to prohibit gun confiscation...
was a huge help, and it was very effective. I look forward to
working on many other issues with GOA." -- U.S. Senator David Vitter
(R-LA), July 13, 2006
----------------------------------------------------
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/ordergoamem.htm
Thursday, December 14, 2006
There's a lot of danger looming on the horizon. When the next
Congress is sworn in January, a committed gun hater and supporter of
gun confiscation, Nancy Pelosi, will take the reins in the House.
The democratic congresswoman from California is rabidly anti-gun.
She holds an F- rating from Gun Owners of America and has
consistently championed socialist "values." The new Majority Leader
in the Senate, Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, also holds an F- rating
from GOA.
Both Pelosi and Reid have worked hard to earn their failing grades,
and now, they will be setting the agenda on gun control issues. Gun
owners will have to remain vigilant in a way that we have not had to
for more than a decade. But lest we forget, there was much that we
were able to accomplish this year. Just consider some of the
victories that we achieved together.
*** January -- March
Gun Owners lobbied on all kinds of issues at the state level this
year. But, perhaps, the most gratifying victories centered on the
Emergency Protection bills that protect the rights of Americans to
keep and bear arms in the wake of a natural disaster.
Gun owners will remember that a little over a year ago -- in the wake
of Hurricane Katrina -- police began stealing the guns of law-abiding
residents in New Orleans. This travesty exposed the fact that,
similar to Louisiana, several states had laws which gave enormous
(although unconstitutional) powers to Governors to regulate or ban
firearms during an emergency.
GOA sprung into action, first, by posting videos of the gun
confiscation on our website. GOA then began working in several state
legislatures, as GOA-supported bills were introduced all across the
nation to repeal these pernicious state codes.
GOA spent a lot of time in Louisiana, getting gun owners in the state
to lobby their own legislators in favor of a change in the law. The
results were astounding, as the state sponsor of the "Emergency
Protection" act credited GOA with helping him get 80% of the House of
Representatives to cosponsor his bill.
Rep. Steve Scalise, told GOA that, "I've had a number of
[Representatives] come up to me asking to co-author my bill because
they heard from members of Gun Owners of America in their districts
in support of my bill."
Not only that, Scalise said that the GOA-produced videos which
contained media footage of the gun thefts were instrumental in
helping him convince lawmakers that gun confiscation had actually
occurred. (Yes, it's true. Many of his legislative colleagues had
no idea gun confiscation had occurred in New Orleans.)
In the end, Louisiana was one of ten states that GOA spent time in,
working to enact their Emergency Protection bills into law.
*** April -- June
With most of the state legislatures ending, GOA turned its sights on
pro-gun bills at the national level. GOA used the Internet and the
mail to mobilize gun owners in support of the Vitter-Jindal bills,
which were federal versions of Emergency Protection legislation that
passed in almost a dozen states.
GOA also spent time defending gun owners' rights in the courts.
After San Francisco voters decided to ban handguns within their city
limits, Gun Owners' founder and chairman, Sen. H.L. Richardson,
submitted an amicus brief contesting the new edict.
While serving as a California state senator for more than two
decades, Richardson had drafted (and passed) preemption legislation
which bans localities from doing what the Bay City did.
In June, Superior Court Judge James Warren agreed with the Gun Owners
Foundation-funded amicus brief and overturned the voter-approved
measure, citing Richardson's law as prohibiting the city from banning
guns.
At the same time, GOA started alerting people to the upcoming UN gun
control conference, which would take place over the July 4 holiday.
In the days leading up to the conference, Gun Owners of America
activated its grassroots network, generating thousands of messages
into Senate and State Department offices.
GOA used the mail, radio, and Internet for several months, urging gun
owner support for legislation to instantly cut off US funds to the
United Nations. In addition to contacting the Congress, GOA also
urged gun owners to contact the State Department delegation which
attended the UN conference.
*** July
GOA members were on hand to protest the UN and give interviews to the
New York Times on the opening day of its gun control summit. Fox
News reported that "Groups like Gun Owners of America... [are]
heavily lobbying against the symposium here at the U.N."
Despite high expectations in the gun-grabbing community, the
conference would not end favorably for Brady-types all around the
globe. As indicated above, GOA was very active in the weeks and
months leading up to the July 4 gun control conference. And with the
conclusion of the conference, press reports indicated that our active
participation was well worth the effort.
According to Reuters, the conference ended in a "total
meltdown" and
"chaos." No formal paper was adopted, and no plan for future action
was agreed to.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), in a column appearing on the day before the
conference was to begin, praised gun owners for having responded to
the call to action with "an avalanche of letters" to the American
delegation, asking that none of our tax dollars be used to further UN
anti-gun proposals.
July was also an important month because both the House and Senate
passed their respective versions of the Emergency Protection Act.
The bill was signed into law by President Bush in October.
*** August
Most lobby groups in Washington get to take a vacation in August, as
Congress goes out of town for its summer recess. But Gun Owners went
to work, lobbying hard against the expansion of the Brady Act -- a
bill introduced by F- rated Carolyn McCarthy. Her bill (HR 1415) is
designed to suck in even more innocent, unsuspecting gun owners into
the web of gun owner disarmament.
GOA members and activists overwhelmingly responded to our internet
and postal alerts over the August recess, resulting in untold
thousands of postcards and emails being dumped on legislators' desks
in opposition to HR 1415.
The results were astounding, as indicated by the following quote from
a congressional office: "Oh s--t! We got a lot of postcards and
e-mails from GOA members."
It's a good thing those postcards and e-mails were sent by our
members, too, because GOA was the only Second Amendment group in
Washington opposing McCarthy's attack.
*** September
Part of the confusion over the McCarthy gun grab was that pro-gun
lobbyists in the nation's capital were encouraging House members to
support her anti-gun bill. For this reason, when the House Judiciary
Committee was scheduled to vote on HR 1415 in early September, the
McCarthy gun bill was expected to easily pass.
But that was before thousands upon thousands of postcards and emails
from GOA members began flooding legislative offices. When the
Judiciary Committee met in September, they reported two
firearms-related bills to the floor of the House -- but they
specifically passed over the McCarthy bill (even though it was
scheduled to come up for a vote).
Thanks to the active support of GOA members, legislators decided they
didn't want to touch this "hot potato." The tidal wave of
grassroots
opposition buried the gun control bill as legislative offices on
Capitol Hill told GOA, "We've heard your postcards and e-mails loud
and clear!"
*** October -- November
Gun Owners were very involved in the recent elections, as our
political victory fund helped elect several, new, outstanding pro-gun
legislators to Congress. GOA-PVF directly assisted several of these
new congressmen, while GOA helped expose the anti-gun records of
those who were selling out gun owners' rights.
GOA is famous for its extensive Candidate Rating which is posted
every two years on our website, and has been published in many
pro-gun magazines over the years. But the Brady Campaign hates this
fact, and they have asked the Federal Election Commission to
investigate GOA's practice of posting its candidate ratings on the
Internet.
Millions of gun owners rely on these ratings, but obviously, that is
something the Brady Bunch would like to end. They want to keep you
in the dark! They don't want you to know the truth. The more they
can hide what anti-gun legislators are doing, the greater their
ability to take away your guns.
A decision by the FEC is currently pending. While this could become
a costly battle for Gun Owners of America, we still plan to fight it
in the courts. But this won't be the only court battle that is
carrying-over to the next year. As the year comes to an end, there
are three very-high profile cases in which Gun Owners Foundation is
involved.
First, GOA's foundation stood alongside the Attorney General of
Wyoming in defiance of the BATFE. The agency wants to overturn a
Wyoming law, introduced by Senator Cale Case, which essentially
allows state residents (who are disqualified to own firearms because
of the federal Lautenberg gun ban) to find a legal way of getting
around the federal ban. While the BATFE is opposing this law in
court, GOA is in the state, helping to protect the rights of gun
owners.
This case is extremely important, because if GOF can win in Wyoming,
then Case's law can be used as a model in other states, thus allowing
innocent gun owners -- who were unsuspectingly disarmed for life --
to own guns once again.
Another one of GOF's high-profile cases is in Montana, where we are
helping to defend Rick Celata, the owner of KT Ordinance. KTO makes
parts kits for individuals who want to make their own firearms, which
is legal as long as the owner does not sell the firearm to another
person. The BATFE has raided Celata and confiscated all of his part
kits, although the agency has yet to charge him with any criminal
wrongdoing. Nevertheless, Celata's firearms have been put up for
forfeiture.
Finally, GOF is assisting Bob Arwady, a gun dealer in Texas. The
BATFE vendetta against gun stores in general -- and Bob Arwady in
particular -- has dragged on for years. The BATFE lost their effort
to jail Arwady when he showed in federal court that their three
witnesses were liars. The jury acquitted him. But that has not
stopped the BATFE from their current effort to pull Arwady's dealer's
license -- an effort which amounts to nothing more than the agency's
attempt to punish and harass someone for having continuously beaten
them in court.
As you can see, both Gun Owners of America and its foundation have
been working to defend your rights all over the country. And we
certainly look forward to working together with you again next year.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO YOUR PRO-GUN FRIENDS AND FAMILY. We
are going to be fighting a lot of battles in the next Congress, and
it's good for gun owners all across the country to go into these
skirmishes with a reminder that we can accomplish much together (and
that we have done so in the past).
Thanks for standing with us. You can go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm to make sure that your
support remains current.
******************************
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.
