POLITICAL POSTURING TAKES CENTER STAGE

The House­Senate conference committee continues to try to iron out the differences between each chamber's version of juvenile justice reform legislation passed earlier this year. This week was marked by a number of House-proposed "motions to instruct" conference committee members on how to proceed, which are not binding.

      Most of these motions have been used for partisan chest-thumping, with the hope of pushing the debate back to the House floor and into the media spotlight, rather than in the conference committee where it belongs.

Rep. Doolittle

      However, a motion by U.S. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Cal.) was the clear exception. It called for the committee to recognize that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to arms, and to not impose unconstitutional restrictions on that right. It was passed on an over-whelming bipartisan vote of 337-73.

Rep. Hyde

      On Thursday evening, U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) blamed Democrats for creating political tension and holding up the committee process, and asked that debate over juvenile justice reform be left to the committee members, as the House and Senate had originally intended. He also stated his support for the Second Amendment. "There is a Second Amendment...that I respect.... It is in the Constitution, and it serves a very useful purpose. Because I would not like to see Americans disarmed because the government sometimes in some cultures and histories becomes the adversary, and Ithink a protection of freedom is that people can maintain arms."

      Debate on this issue will continue, as will procedural and political grandstanding from anti-gun lawmakers, so it is critical that you keep a close watch on the national media during the coming week for any substantive votes, and turn up the heat on your lawmakers when votes on actual legislation are expected. Call the conference committee members considering the juvenile justice legislation, as well as both your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative, to ensure that no anti-gun language is included in the conference committee's final "compromise" legislation.

      You can call your two Senators at (202) 224-3121 and your Representative at (202) 225-3121. For contact information on conference committee members, call ILA Grassroots.

Complete Juvenile Justice Bill NRA-ILA Alert Series

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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