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| Vol. 6, No. 48 | 12/10/99 |
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In a brazen attempt to do an end-run around the legislative process, the Clinton-Gore Administration voiced its full support for plans announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to file a taxpayer-subsidized lawsuit against legitimate, lawful firearms manufacturers. The Administration naturally waited until federal lawmakers had gone home for the year before unveiling the threat of a federal class-action lawsuit to accomplish what Congress has already rejected -- far-reaching restrictions on our right to keep and bear arms.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart was quoted in the 12/9
edition of the Washington Times as saying, "I think we have enormously
important public policy goals, and if the Republican-controlled
Clinton even went so far as to admit that the suit is intended to force manufacturers to change their marketing and manufacturing practices, and to compel them to police how and to whom firearms are sold. Once again, the Administration is abdicating its responsibility for enforcing existing law, as the final distribution repository of guns manufactured by the industry are federally-licensed dealers (FFLs)! It is the federal government that sets the legal criteria for FFLs, and thus, it is its responsibility, not the industry's, to ensure that compliance with these laws by FFLs is adhered to. The President refers to this tactic as using "executive authority," while others have described it as blackmail. Apparently, if manufacturers cave in to the White House's demands for major changes, then the threat of the lawsuit will be removed. If not, then the full resources of the federal government (i.e., taxpayers' dollars) will be brought to bear on gun makers through reckless litigation.
This latest action has left many in the firearms industry scratching their heads, baffled because manufacturers had been working with federal officials in order to help keep criminals from obtaining guns. "The industry is meeting with the ATF and going above and beyond the law to help get the bad guys," commented National Shooting Sports
Of course, duplicitous behavior from this Administration comes as no surprise, as NRA cautioned several members of the firearms industry earlier this year when they appeared at a White House ceremony in May (see FAX Alert Vol. 6, No. 18). NRA was not invited to the White House gathering, and NSSF declined an invitation to the event when it realized that the initial promise that it would have input in the decision-making process on solutions to violence was empty, as the Clinton-Gore "gun control" package had already been sent to Capitol Hill. NRA held its own press conference that same day, which included Delfay, where we highlighted the lack of enforcement of existing laws against criminals, and the need to expand true crime-fighting measures like "Project Exile."
The Clinton-Gore-HUD attack on the industry drew immediate fire from many quarters, and on Wednesday, NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker responded to the Clinton-Gore-HUD lawsuit threat by stating, "This is a frightening Holiday Greeting from Bill Clinton and Al Gore. No lawful industry is safe." He went on to say that such a lawsuit amounts to reckless harassment, and typifies the hypocrisy of this Administration. Rather than enforcing existing firearm laws -- a strategy that "Project Exile" in Richmond, Va., has proven to be effective in reducing violent crime -- the Clinton-Gore team has overseen a 44% decline in BATF prosecutions. "These suits are clearly wrong-headed...and the NRA will continue to work with Congress...to ensure that this effort ends up in the judicial waste bin...."
Since the lawsuit was not unveiled until after Congress adjourned for the year, which was undoubtedly intentional, most lawmakers have not had an opportunity to respond to this latest attack on lawful manufacturers. However, in a statement released the same day as the Administration's, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, "Having failed to work with Congress in a bipartisan manner to achieve its public policy agenda, the Clinton Administration has turned to trial lawyers and the courts in a desperate attempt to use the judicial branch to create and enforce policy objectives." Calling the lawsuit "constitutionally dubious," the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said, "Filing lawsuits in the hope that the courts will create or enforce policy objectives, no matter the end, amounts to a solicitation of the courts to engage in judicial activism. It distorts the constitutional system of separation of powers and weakens republican democracy."
U.S. Representative (and NRA Board Member) Bob Barr (R-Ga.) wrote to HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, asking why HUD general counsel Gail Laster told a House subcommittee on August 4 that "HUD does not plan to bring any action on its own against the gun industry" and "HUD has no authority on its own to bring litigation." Barr also wrote that he has asked the subcommittee "to consider taking action against [Lester] for misleading, if not lying to, the subcommittee." (NRAWinningTeam.com addendum: Rep. Barr's Biographical Info) Call your lawmakers' district offices and urge them to
The district office number of your federal lawmakers should be listed in the blue pages of local telephone books. You can also find this information using the Write To Congress tool on the NRA-ILA website, or by calling NRA-ILA's Grassroots Division at (800) 392-8683.
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA. This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org |
