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A ‘RUSH’ TO OPPRESS: Congressman Introduces Controversial Gun-Control Bill
One day into the 111th session of Congress was all it took for Illinois Democrat and former Black Panther, Bobby Rush, to take a run on a new measure of gun control. Problem is, quite a few don’t like the language—in particular, the part about “anyone wishing to purchase, own or possess a ‘qualifying firearm’ would have to be licensed by the state or the federal government in a licensing program managed by the Attorney General.”
“I might be a gun rights advocate,” says Larry Pratt, the Executive Director of the Gun Owners of America, “but anyone with any sense, or any respect for the Constitution at all, has to bristle at proposed legislation that wants to place our Bill of Rights in the hands of one man.”
Pratt is available for interviews to comment on this political move, and the foreshadowing he fears it may represent in a President Obama/Speaker Pelosi Washington tag team.
With an eye on the bill’s details that require redundant personal identification, a release of personal health records to the Attorney General and other unnecessary, intrusive measures, Pratt and other gun rights proponents find it a harsh pill to swallow, and a disturbing political double standard that shows a government more preoccupied with its own citizens than foreign enemies.
“What I find frighteningly ironic,” adds Pratt, “is the bill’s mandate requiring gun owners apply for a federal firearms I.D. card. Isn’t this the Party that, together with the ACLU, had a tirade over the proposal of a post-9/11 national I.D. card?”
In 1969, Rush himself served six months in prison for an illegal weapons conviction. Currently, the bill has no cosponsors, has not been scheduled for a committee hearing and, if it were to get as far, would likely have a difficult time passing in the Senate. Nonetheless, with a heavily left-leaning D.C. right now, folks like Pratt are taking nothing for granted.
ABOUT YOUR EXPERT GUEST, LARRY PRATT…
Larry Pratt has been Executive Director of Gun Owners of America for 30 years. GOA is a national membership organization of 300,000 Americans dedicated to promoting their second amendment freedom to keep and bear arms.
GOA lobbies for the pro-gun position in Washington and is involved in firearm issues in the states. GOA’s work includes providing legal assistance to those involved in lawsuits with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the federal firearms law enforcement agency.
Pratt has appeared on numerous national radio and TV programs such as NBC’s Today Show, CBS’ Good Morning America, CNN’s Crossfire and Larry King Live, Fox’s Hannity & Colmes, MSNBC’s Phil Donahue and Dan Abrams show and many others.
Larry Pratt has debated Congressmen James Traficant, Jr. (D-OH), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Vice President Al Gore, among others.
Larry’s columns have appeared in newspapers across the country.
Pratt published a book, Armed People Victorious, in 1990 and was editor of a book, Safeguarding Liberty: The Constitution & Militias, 1995.
Pratt’s latest book is “On the Firing Line: Essays in the Defense of Liberty.”
Pratt has held elective office in the state legislature of Virginia, serving in the House of Delegates. Pratt directs a number of other public interest organizations and serves as the Vice-Chairman of the American Institute for Cancer Research.
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