(Wed., June 7) — As this alert “goes to press,” the Senate will soon be voting on the “anti-terrorism” bill. Regardless of whether you read this alert BEFORE or AFTER the vote, Sen. Bob Dole needs to hear from you.

Both Sen. Dole and his presidential opponent, Sen. Phil Gramm, have pushed an anti-terrorism bill (S. 735) that was almost as bad as the bill introduced on the House side by anti-gun Rep. Charles Schumer (H.R. 896). But while Sen. Gramm was a mere co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. Dole’s leadership as Majority Leader and as chief sponsor of the bill clearly puts the brunt of the blame on him.

During the negotiations over the bill, Dole entered a “unanimous consent agreement” which allowed Democrats to offer several anti-gun amendments to (1) eliminate DCM; (2) remove the sunset on Brady; (3) extend the firearms statute of limitation; (4) massively expand the BATF; (5) increase the FFL license fee; (6) limit handgun purchases to one per month, and much, much more.

At the same time, Dole’s “unanimous consent agreement” prohibited Republicans from offering pro-gun amendments. After the Senate began work on the bill, the Senate adopted four seriously troublesome amendments:

(1) An amendment to increase the BATF budget by $20 million a year through the year 2000; (2) An amendment to extend the statute of limitations for violations under the 1934 Act from three years under current law to five years; (3) An amendment to expand the ability of the military to enforce civilian law; (4) An amendment to allow the government to wiretap your home if a person subject to a wiretap order visits your home.

In most cases, these amendments were adopted without a recorded vote with Dole’s approval.

ACTION ITEMS:

* If you read this alert before the end of the day (12:00 AM), call Sen. Dole at 202-224-6521 and urge him to pull this anti-gun bill (S. 735). If you are reading this alert after the given time, then call his office to strongly protest his actions. Tell him you are very upset with the fact that he would enter a binding “unanimous consent” agreement that would allow several anti-gun amendments to be offered with no pro-gun amendments being allowed.

Tell him you have not forgotten how his “unanimous consent” agreements in November of 1993 both prevented filibusters on the crime bill (which contained the Feinstein gun ban) and allowed the Brady Bill to pass without a recorded vote. And remember, that as a presidential candidate, Sen. Dole will be interested to hear your views, no matter where you live.

Dole’s fax number is are 202-228-1245.

* If you read this alert before the end of the day (12:00 AM), call your senators (202-224-3121) and urge them to vote against S. 735. If you are reading this alert after the above time, then call their offices to find out how they voted. If they voted for the bill, let them feel your displeasure and urge them to vote against it after the conference committee. ALSO, urge them to stop agreeing to Sen. Dole’s “unanimous consent” agreements which harm gun owners.

This alert was posted by Gun Owners of America, 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151, (703)321-8585, fax: 321-8408.