On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate attached two firearm-related amendments to S. 2521, the Military Construction Appropriations Act of 2001, both of which are non-binding.
The first amendment passed on a bipartisan 69-30 vote, and was offered by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.). It stated that the Senate feels "[t]he Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of each law-abiding United States citizen to own a firearm for any legitimate purpose, including self-defense or recreation," and that the Senate finds that the Clinton-Gore Administration "has failed to protect law-abiding citizens by inadequately enforcing Federal firearms laws." It also referred to the "Juvenile Justice" bill currently stalled in a House-Senate Conference Committee, calling for any conference report on the legislation to include a comprehensive approach to juvenile crime, with an emphasis on enforcing existing laws, while rejecting any infringement on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The other amendment, offered by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), barely passed on a 50-49 vote. Daschle's amendment offered praise of the P/R professionals who dreamed up and organized the Mothers' Day March on D.C., supported the extremely inflated estimate of the number of participants in the march (an estimate previously supported only by the claims of the P/R professionals who orchestrated the event and their anti-gun colleagues in the media), questioned the efficacy of proven gun safety programs while praising the March's anti-Second Amendment message of calling for licensing and registration schemes for law-abiding gun owners, and called on the House-Senate Conference Committee to pass a conference report on the "Juvenile Justice" bill that includes the anti-Second Amendment, draconian Lautenberg "gun show" amendment. Be sure to call your Senators and express your views on their votes on these issues. You can reach your Senators by calling (202) 224-3121, or by using the "Write Your Reps" feature at www.NRAILA.org.
=+=+=+=+ | ||||||||||||||
>
