House Moves McCarthy Bill To Give FBI Access To Billions Of Your
Personal Records -- In Order To Seize Your Guns
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
Thursday, June 1, 2006
There she goes again!
Anti-gun zealot Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has launched her most recent
effort to use Orwellian Big Government in order to seize your guns.
In fact, her anti-gun bill was recently reported out of a House
subcommittee.
But when you look at the list of cosponsors on this bill, you find a
"Who's Who" of the anti-gun Democratic elite: Reps. Howard Berman
(D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Barney Frank
(D-MA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Pete Stark (D-CA) among others. They
are all F-rated Representatives.
HR 1415 -- the McCarthy bill -- would require states to "make
electronically available to the Attorney General records relevant to
a determination of whether a person is disqualified from possessing
or receiving a firearm under [federal law" [Section 102(c)(1)(A)].
Among other things, the bill will help FBI officials to effectively
stop thousands upon thousands of Americans from purchasing a firearm.
Already, millions of Americans have been disarmed by the Lautenberg
Gun Ban which President Bill Clinton signed in 1996.
Because of the Lautenberg ban, people who have committed very minor
offenses that include pushing, shoving or, in some cases, even
yelling at a family member have discovered that they can no longer
own a firearm for self-defense. Consider just some of the many
examples:
* A Delaware member of GOA testified in Congress as to how the
Lautenberg gun ban had disarmed him for life -- simply because he
swatted his child with an open hand on the buttocks. At the time,
this father was going through an ugly divorce, and so his estranged
wife, with the encouragement of her mother, reported the man to the
police for child abuse. After a nasty court battle, this father was
forced to accept a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction. He has
sold his firearms collection and is now disarmed for life by the
Lautenberg gun ban, simply because he spanked his child.
* In Fairfax County, Virginia, a wife (Judy) was carted off to the
police station for slightly tearing her husband's pocket -- even
though her husband refused to press charges. The husband, Tom,
states he had only called the police to get "documentation in a
custody dispute." Nevertheless, Virginia's zero-tolerance law
requires the police to press charges in such cases. For Judy to
plea-bargain to a misdemeanor and pay a minimal fine means that she
forfeits her Second Amendment rights forever because of the
Lautenberg ban.
* The Lautenberg gun ban has even slapped sons and daughters with a
lifetime gun ban, for nothing more than the slightest of infractions.
The Washington Post Magazine reports that twenty-one year old Lora
lost her temper and flung an empty water bottle and her car keys.
Unfortunately for her, the car keys landed near her mother. For
that, Lora was arrested, booked, and told she must not have any
contact with her mom for three days, even though she was still living
at home. Officer Mike Twomey, who assisted in the arrest, remarks
that "in the old days, the proper response would have been to say,
'hey, ladies, cool it.' Now, arrest is the only option."
Let's not forget, that because of the Lautenberg domestic violence
MISDEMEANOR gun ban, the "new days" means that if Lora pays a $25
fine -- just to get the issue "behind her" -- she loses her gun
rights forever.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
But the anti-gun nuts in Congress are upset because many of the
states' criminal records are incomplete. As a result, the FBI does
not access all of these records when screening the background of
someone who purchases a firearm from a gun dealer.
So HR 1415 will grant millions of dollars to the states to improve
their criminal records. Specifically, the bill would send taxpayer
monies to the states so they can provide the FBI with the names of
those people who are disqualified by the Lautenberg gun ban.
Obviously, this starts with a huge computer network of felonies and
misdemeanors -- with the FBI trolling through records of bar fights
or domestic disputes to determine if you spanked your kids or yelled
at your husband and are therefore disqualified from owning a gun
under the Lautenberg amendment. Congress should be repealing the
Lautenberg gun ban, not extending it to disable even more people from
owning guns.
But the problem goes much broader than that:
* Federal law prohibits illegal aliens from owning guns [18 U.S.C.
922(g)(5)]. But, in order to identify illegal aliens, "relevant"
records could mean that the FBI would demand state tax returns of ALL
American citizens, employment records, or even library records -- all
in the name of making sure that you're not an illegal.
* And did you know that veterans who have suffered from
post-traumatic stress disorder have been deemed as mentally
"incompetent" and are prohibited from owning guns under 18 U.S.C.
922(g)(4)? Records of those instances certainly exist; and, in 1999,
the Department of Veterans Administration turned over 90,000 names of
veterans to the FBI for inclusion into the NICS background check
system.
The bottom line is this: The "Instant check" program has hardly
worked well enough to justify giving the Attorney General the right
to go on a fishing expedition through EVERY personal record on every
citizen in your state. This bill would expand the power of the
federal government in the most ridiculous of ways.
But McCarthy, who could care less about raising the debt limits in
this country, would take an already financially-overburdened
government and slap it with additional burdens, requiring millions of
dollars to be spent on tracking the personal information on millions
of law-abiding Americans. That's the "carrot" for the states:
update your records, provide them to the federal government, and get
millions of dollars in return.
Well, if the Second and Tenth Amendments were to be obeyed, the
Federal government would be prohibited from passing laws that allow
the FBI to search through the records of HONEST, LAW-ABIDING
citizens.
Never mind the fact that all this data is handled with less care than
the records of a farmer's livestock. Consider that CNSNews.com
reported last week that 25 million Social Security number records of
veterans were recently hacked. The more that our private data gets
added into government computers, the more likely we are to have our
identity compromised.
ACTION: Please contact your representative and ask him to oppose HR
1415. This is legislation that we've been able to kill in the past,
but it's important for us to rise in opposition once again.
Please forward this alert to as many as you can, so that your
friends, acquaintances and family members can also contact their
Senators and Representatives. Congressmen must hear that this
legislation is unacceptable.
To identify your Representative, as well as to send a message via
e-mail, see the Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm on the GOA website.
----- Pre-written letter -----
Dear Representative:
I am outraged that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy is trying to prohibit more
Americans from owning guns with her HR 1415. This bill spends
millions of dollars to further prop up the unconstitutional Brady
Law, but there is no authority for the Federal government to do this
under the Second and Tenth Amendments.
Section 102(c)(1)(A) of H.R. 1415 would allow the federal government
to troll through state misdemeanor, diversion, psychiatric, tax, and
even library records -- all for the purpose of finding new reasons to
seize guns from law-abiding Americans.
The Instant Background Check should be banned, not expanded. We
should be focusing attention on crooks, not on law-abiding citizens
like my friends, my family and me. And Congress should be repealing
the Lautenberg gun ban, not extending it to disable even more people
from owning guns. H.R. 1415 is a simply an extension of the hated
Lautenberg gun ban.
Please oppose H.R. 1415.
I would appreciate hearing whether you plan to oppose this bill. Gun
Owners of America will keep me informed about any votes on this
dangerous measure.
Sincerely,
Personal Records -- In Order To Seize Your Guns
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
Thursday, June 1, 2006
There she goes again!
Anti-gun zealot Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has launched her most recent
effort to use Orwellian Big Government in order to seize your guns.
In fact, her anti-gun bill was recently reported out of a House
subcommittee.
But when you look at the list of cosponsors on this bill, you find a
"Who's Who" of the anti-gun Democratic elite: Reps. Howard Berman
(D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Barney Frank
(D-MA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Pete Stark (D-CA) among others. They
are all F-rated Representatives.
HR 1415 -- the McCarthy bill -- would require states to "make
electronically available to the Attorney General records relevant to
a determination of whether a person is disqualified from possessing
or receiving a firearm under [federal law" [Section 102(c)(1)(A)].
Among other things, the bill will help FBI officials to effectively
stop thousands upon thousands of Americans from purchasing a firearm.
Already, millions of Americans have been disarmed by the Lautenberg
Gun Ban which President Bill Clinton signed in 1996.
Because of the Lautenberg ban, people who have committed very minor
offenses that include pushing, shoving or, in some cases, even
yelling at a family member have discovered that they can no longer
own a firearm for self-defense. Consider just some of the many
examples:
* A Delaware member of GOA testified in Congress as to how the
Lautenberg gun ban had disarmed him for life -- simply because he
swatted his child with an open hand on the buttocks. At the time,
this father was going through an ugly divorce, and so his estranged
wife, with the encouragement of her mother, reported the man to the
police for child abuse. After a nasty court battle, this father was
forced to accept a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction. He has
sold his firearms collection and is now disarmed for life by the
Lautenberg gun ban, simply because he spanked his child.
* In Fairfax County, Virginia, a wife (Judy) was carted off to the
police station for slightly tearing her husband's pocket -- even
though her husband refused to press charges. The husband, Tom,
states he had only called the police to get "documentation in a
custody dispute." Nevertheless, Virginia's zero-tolerance law
requires the police to press charges in such cases. For Judy to
plea-bargain to a misdemeanor and pay a minimal fine means that she
forfeits her Second Amendment rights forever because of the
Lautenberg ban.
* The Lautenberg gun ban has even slapped sons and daughters with a
lifetime gun ban, for nothing more than the slightest of infractions.
The Washington Post Magazine reports that twenty-one year old Lora
lost her temper and flung an empty water bottle and her car keys.
Unfortunately for her, the car keys landed near her mother. For
that, Lora was arrested, booked, and told she must not have any
contact with her mom for three days, even though she was still living
at home. Officer Mike Twomey, who assisted in the arrest, remarks
that "in the old days, the proper response would have been to say,
'hey, ladies, cool it.' Now, arrest is the only option."
Let's not forget, that because of the Lautenberg domestic violence
MISDEMEANOR gun ban, the "new days" means that if Lora pays a $25
fine -- just to get the issue "behind her" -- she loses her gun
rights forever.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
But the anti-gun nuts in Congress are upset because many of the
states' criminal records are incomplete. As a result, the FBI does
not access all of these records when screening the background of
someone who purchases a firearm from a gun dealer.
So HR 1415 will grant millions of dollars to the states to improve
their criminal records. Specifically, the bill would send taxpayer
monies to the states so they can provide the FBI with the names of
those people who are disqualified by the Lautenberg gun ban.
Obviously, this starts with a huge computer network of felonies and
misdemeanors -- with the FBI trolling through records of bar fights
or domestic disputes to determine if you spanked your kids or yelled
at your husband and are therefore disqualified from owning a gun
under the Lautenberg amendment. Congress should be repealing the
Lautenberg gun ban, not extending it to disable even more people from
owning guns.
But the problem goes much broader than that:
* Federal law prohibits illegal aliens from owning guns [18 U.S.C.
922(g)(5)]. But, in order to identify illegal aliens, "relevant"
records could mean that the FBI would demand state tax returns of ALL
American citizens, employment records, or even library records -- all
in the name of making sure that you're not an illegal.
* And did you know that veterans who have suffered from
post-traumatic stress disorder have been deemed as mentally
"incompetent" and are prohibited from owning guns under 18 U.S.C.
922(g)(4)? Records of those instances certainly exist; and, in 1999,
the Department of Veterans Administration turned over 90,000 names of
veterans to the FBI for inclusion into the NICS background check
system.
The bottom line is this: The "Instant check" program has hardly
worked well enough to justify giving the Attorney General the right
to go on a fishing expedition through EVERY personal record on every
citizen in your state. This bill would expand the power of the
federal government in the most ridiculous of ways.
But McCarthy, who could care less about raising the debt limits in
this country, would take an already financially-overburdened
government and slap it with additional burdens, requiring millions of
dollars to be spent on tracking the personal information on millions
of law-abiding Americans. That's the "carrot" for the states:
update your records, provide them to the federal government, and get
millions of dollars in return.
Well, if the Second and Tenth Amendments were to be obeyed, the
Federal government would be prohibited from passing laws that allow
the FBI to search through the records of HONEST, LAW-ABIDING
citizens.
Never mind the fact that all this data is handled with less care than
the records of a farmer's livestock. Consider that CNSNews.com
reported last week that 25 million Social Security number records of
veterans were recently hacked. The more that our private data gets
added into government computers, the more likely we are to have our
identity compromised.
ACTION: Please contact your representative and ask him to oppose HR
1415. This is legislation that we've been able to kill in the past,
but it's important for us to rise in opposition once again.
Please forward this alert to as many as you can, so that your
friends, acquaintances and family members can also contact their
Senators and Representatives. Congressmen must hear that this
legislation is unacceptable.
To identify your Representative, as well as to send a message via
e-mail, see the Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm on the GOA website.
----- Pre-written letter -----
Dear Representative:
I am outraged that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy is trying to prohibit more
Americans from owning guns with her HR 1415. This bill spends
millions of dollars to further prop up the unconstitutional Brady
Law, but there is no authority for the Federal government to do this
under the Second and Tenth Amendments.
Section 102(c)(1)(A) of H.R. 1415 would allow the federal government
to troll through state misdemeanor, diversion, psychiatric, tax, and
even library records -- all for the purpose of finding new reasons to
seize guns from law-abiding Americans.
The Instant Background Check should be banned, not expanded. We
should be focusing attention on crooks, not on law-abiding citizens
like my friends, my family and me. And Congress should be repealing
the Lautenberg gun ban, not extending it to disable even more people
from owning guns. H.R. 1415 is a simply an extension of the hated
Lautenberg gun ban.
Please oppose H.R. 1415.
I would appreciate hearing whether you plan to oppose this bill. Gun
Owners of America will keep me informed about any votes on this
dangerous measure.
Sincerely,
