Please Oppose ALL Killer Amendments To S. 659
Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

February 24, 2004

Dear Senator:

You will soon be asked to cast your vote in support of S. 659, the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.”

GOA opposes any amendment to this bill that would extend the Clinton ban on semi-automatic firearms or that would impose restrictions at gun shows.

The former, contrary to popular belief, outlawed more than 180 firearms — not simply 19 as is commonly reported. Even before the Clinton ban was enacted, federal surveys showed that violent criminals only carried a “military-type gun” in about one percent of the crimes nationwide. The Clinton semi-auto ban is a total fraud.

The latter provision would ban the private sale of firearms at gun shows, unless the buyer agrees to submit to a background registration check. If the Senate were to adopt the McCain language, it would effectively eliminate gun shows because every member of an organization sponsoring a gun show could be imprisoned if the organization fails to notify each and every “person who attends the special firearms event of the requirements [under the Brady Law].” Thus, if the person responsible for handing out “Brady pamphlets” took a break to go to the bathroom, everyone responsible for the event could be sent to prison.

Please understand that IF S. 659 is amended to include either of these anti-Second Amendment provisions, GOA asks you to OPPOSE cloture and to OPPOSE final passage of the bill.

Gun Owners of America will be rating both votes (cloture and final passage) in our year end rating. Please don’t vote for these gun control provisions on the basis of misrepresentations that such measures will be taken out later. When was the last time such a strategy succeeded?

Sincerely,

Larry Pratt
Executive Director