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Section 1062 Eliminated!
Rep. Stump (R-AZ) |
Thanks in large part to the efforts of
U.S. Representative Bob Stump
(R-Ariz.), the House Armed Services Committee Chair, Section 1062 of S.
1438, the "National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2002," was stripped
from the House-Senate Conference Committee's final report.
Sec.
1062 - included at the last minute in the version of the Defense
Authorization bill passed by the Senate, but not in the House's
version - sought to provide the Secretary of Defense with the authority to
require "demilitarization" of any "significant military equipment" that
has ever been owned by the Department of Defense (DoD). This would
include firearms (such as the venerable
M1,
M1 Carbine, and
Model 1911,
as well as all
Civilian Marksmanship Program rifles,
even "sporterized"
surplus
bolt-action Springfields!),
firearm barrels, ammunition, and gun
powder.
"Demilitarization" is the term for rendering such items
permanently inoperable. Sec. 1062 would have allowed for this action to
be carried out either by the owner or a third party, with the owner
paying the cost, or by the DoD. However, if the DoD were to determine
it should perform the demilitarization, Sec. 1062 would have also
allowed it to determine whether the cost of returning the demilled item
is prohibitive. If decreed cost-prohibitive, DoD could then simply keep
the item, and reimburse the owner only for the fair market scrap value
of the item.
Representative Stump deserves the thanks of the entire pro-gun
community, as do those NRA members and other activists who took the time
to contact members of the House-Senate Conference Committee to urge them
to strip Sec. 1062 from the "National Defense Authorization Act for FY
2002."
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