Colorado ––(Ammoland.com)- The past seven months have been a whirlwind of legislative battles on Capitol Hill concerning our Second Amendment rights.
It has been one assault after the next with Obama’s Executive Orders, Toomey-Manchin background check expansion, Harry Reid’s gun control package (S.649), radical anti-gun nominees and the crown-jewel, the U.N. “Small Arms Treaty.”
It would be easy to get overwhelmed with such a wave of attacks and lose sight of other objectives.
Like any good coach will tell his team, the key to a good defense is a solid offense.
That’s why we at NAGR are constantly working with legislators on the Hill to push pro-gun bills that do one thing — repeal anti-gun legislation already on the books.
Here are three bills that I am personally excited to be pushing on the Hill.
Repealing the Gun Free School Zone Act
H.R. 35 by Rep. Steve Stockman (TX-36) and H.R. 133 by Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04)
Year after year, crime data shows that not only has the Gun Free School Zone Act not slowed or prevented shootings at schools, they have increased.
NAGR has always held the position that Gun Free Zones of any kind are essentially “criminal safe zones.”
Legislation such as the Gun Free School Zones Act just shows how the gun grabbers prize their twisted ideology above facts and common sense.
Simply posting a sign on school doors that proclaims “Gun Free Zone” will do one thing and one thing only: ensure that when an active shooting situation arises, there will be no armed citizen there to defend innocents.
We are proud to work with strong pro-gun legislators such as Steve Stockman and Thomas Massie.
Veterans Second Amendment Protection
H.R. 602 by Rep. Jeff Miller (Fl-1) and H.R. 577 by Rep. Steve Stockman (TX-36)
In 1998, the Department of Veterans Affairs struck a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to begin forwarding names of Veterans who they had labeled “mentally incompetent,” all on account of their need (or desire) for assistance managing certain, often times complicated, financial affairs.
From 1998 through 2007, at least 116,000 of these individuals were reported to the FBI and immediately listed on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System as ineligible to purchase a firearm. Reports today place that number even higher.
In most cases, these veterans have never been adjudicated by a court of law as being a danger to themselves or others and are being denied their Second Amendment rights without due process. This is an outrageous bypass of the rights of our Veterans and the rule of law.
NAGR will fight as long as it takes to restore these veterans’ rights and to make sure that such dangerous precedence never has the chance to spread.
Repealing the Sporting Purposes Distinction
H.R. 2277 by Rep. Doug Collins (GA-9)
Most gun owners are unaware that for decades the ATF, with little or no oversight, has successfully banned the importation of countless firearms and certain types of ammunition.
Even after congressional inquiry and attempts to put an end to these bans the ATF has managed to continue this tradition by pointing to the legal authority of the little known “sporting purposes” distinction.
The so-called “sporting purpose test” was enacted in 1968 as part of the Gun Control Act.
It was imposed to distinguish between imports of firearms that would be allowed and those that would be banned, specifically most military surplus rifles.
In 1989, the ban was expanded by Executive Order, without congressional approval, to “semiautomatic assault weapons” based solely on cosmetic features. This served as a precursor to the so-called “assault weapons” ban.
Congressman Collins’ bill is short and simple.
Instead of writing new legislation to prevent such actions, or placing prohibitions on using federal funds to impose these bans, Collins’ bill simply deletes every mention of “sporting purpose” found in the Federal Code.
So far the bill has attracted some of the strongest legislators in the House as co-sponsors.
The battles coming in the future
With Congress heading into recess this month, gun rights activists like yourself can take a breath . . . but only for a short time.
You can bet the anti-gunners are re-grouping right now, planning their next gun control push when they arrive back in Washington in the coming weeks.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated on any breaking developments.
In the mean time, always be prepared for the next battle to protect your gun rights.
For Freedom, Dudley BrownExecutive Vice President
About:
The National Association for Gun Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the Constitutionally protected right-to-keep-and-bear-arms through an aggressive program designed to mobilize public opposition to anti-gun legislation. The National Association for Gun Rights’ mailing address is P.O 7002, Fredericksburg, VA 22404. They can be contacted toll-free at 1-877-405-4570. Its web address is www.NationalGunRights.org