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| Vol. 6, No. 20 | 5/28/99 |
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The last several weeks have seen a great deal of congressional activity regarding gun control legislation, at the urging of the Clinton-Gore Administration and their anti-gun cronies in the U.S. Senate. Last week the Senate passed a Juvenile Justice Reform bill, S. 254, that included the Draconian Lautenberg Gun Show Amendment (see FAX Alert, Vol. 6, No. 19). This Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives began working on their own Juvenile Justice Reform legislation, starting with hearings in the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime. The list of those invited to testify included NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, Professor John R. Lott, Jr., author of More Guns, Less Crime -- the book based on his ground breaking research that shows Right To Carry laws help to reduce violent crime -- and Darrell Scott, the father of two victims from the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colo.
Mr. Scott's testimony was highly charged with emotion, as he spoke of the loss of his daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and of his son Craig, who survived the attack. "In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy," said Scott, "I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA....I don't even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA -- because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death." Mr. Scott went on to state that more gun control laws are not the answer to tragedies like Columbine, and blamed lawmakers for joining in the finger pointing, rather than seeking real solutions. "[Politicians] immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that continue to erode away our personal and private liberties," he said in reference to the reactions thus far to the Littleton tragedy. (WEBMASTER NOTE: Click for Mr. Scott's complete statement)
NRA-EVP Wayne LaPierre later spoke directly to the Lautenberg Amendment, calling it "unreasonable ... unworkable ... unacceptable ... and to our Founders who gave us the Second Amendment, unthinkable." He testified that NRA supports reasonable laws, such as providing instant criminal background checks on the sale of firearms at gun shows; however, NRA finds it unreasonable to continue to allow the federal government to keep records on law-abiding citizens whose firearm purchases are not denied through a National Instant Check System (NICS) check. Currently, federal law prohibits such records retention, although the Clinton-Gore Administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) freely admits to violating this restriction. If the Lautenberg Amendment becomes law, it would not only allow for this registration scheme to continue, but would also create a whole litany of new restrictions on gun shows, as well as several other lawful private activities involving firearms, and allow for gun purchasers to be charged fees for using NICS -- which amounts to a tax on your right to keep and bear arms.
The House of Representatives is now on their Memorial Day
recess, but will be back in session next Tuesday, June 1, to
start full debate over their Juvenile Justice Reform bill.
It is
critical that all NRA members and concerned gun owners contact
their U.S. Representative to urge him to oppose the abomination
that is the Lautenberg Amendment. Call his district office,
which should be listed in the blue pages of local telephone
books, and ask if he will be holding any town meetings over the
weekend or in the near future. If he is, then be sure to attend,
and bring your friends, family, and fellow gun owners, so that
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