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BACK ROOM DEALS GIVE GUN BAN LAW NEW LIFE: After Pressure From Gun Rights Group Helps Bill Get Pulled, Insignificant Changes Bring It Back For Vote
Lately, it seems like every time voters speak loud enough to prevent a bill from passing, it gets new life because Congress is insistent that they know better.
Senate Bill (S22) is no different. Known as the “Land Bill”, its passage is going to be attempted with the same tactics.
Executive Director of Gunowners of America (GOA), Larry Pratt is calling attention to a Senate Bill (S22) that appears to be even another way to skin that cat – by expanding the amount of land owned by the government that already has a strict gun ban.
STATEMENT FROM GOA GUN RIGHTS & STIMULUS BILL
Remember the massive land bill, S. 22, that passed out of the Senate last month?
It was expected to pass quickly in the House, but your opposition to an expansion of gun control contained in the bill forced it to be pulled from the floor.
GOA has just learned that after some backroom deals the bill is headed to the floor WEDNESDAY MORNING, without any amendments to truly protect your Second Amendment rights on National Park Service (NPS) land.
You have fought the battle over the NPS gun ban for a long time.
Unlike U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, which allow for state and local law to govern firearms possession, NPS land is subject to a complete gun ban for any citizen who does not hold a concealed carry permit.
The bill coming to the floor March 11 greatly expands NPS land, thus spreading the agency's anti-gun regulations into more areas.
S. 22 is actually a compilation of over 190 bills, many of which were never even debated on their own merits.
Here are just a few examples of land expansions in the bill:
* Section 5204 of the bill establishes the Washington-Rochambeau Route as a Historic Trail. This dual trail begins in Rhode Island and travels 650 miles to Yorktown, Virginia. The trail includes parts of major thoroughfares on the east coast such as Interstate 95 and US Route 1, meaning the gun ban could effect hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting gun owners each day.
* Section 5301 authorizes the federal government to buy private land adjacent to national parks and trails. Such land would be controlled by the NPS, and thus be subject to the agency's anti-gun regulations.
* Section 7002 makes the birthplace of William Jefferson Clinton a National Historic Site. Perhaps it's fitting that the legacy of former President Clinton, who was responsible for so many anti-Second Amendment laws, will include yet another "gun free" zone.
In all, the bill designates over 2 million acres of wilderness, establishes three new national parks, a new national monument, three new national conservation areas, and four new national trails.
In an effort to persuade pro-gun Congressmen to vote for the bill, the leadership apparently agreed to one backroom change -- an amendment to protect hunting and recreational shooting.
The compromise measure misses the point. The founding fathers did not, in their struggle to secure essential freedoms, craft the Second Amendment with the idea that it would protect hunting and recreational shooting.
It is seemingly simple to understand yet we have to continually remind the Congress that the Second Amendment is not about hunting!
If we have any chance of stopping this bill, you must contact your Representative right away.
The bill is scheduled to come to the floor before noon, Wednesday, March 11.
Please don't let Congress sneak this expansion of gun control through the House under the guise that compromise language protects your Second Amendment rights. It doesn't.
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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