/USNewswire/ -- This week's highly-publicized effort to exempt the National Rifle Association from the effects of the "Disclose Act," H.R. 5175 shows how fundamentally bankrupt the legislation and its underlying philosophy is, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
"The attempt by Democrats to essentially buy off the NRA with a tailor-made exemption should be proof enough that the entire measure is morally, if not legally, repugnant and should be rejected by Congress," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "The exemption clause, if it were to be formally adopted as an amendment to the bill, is probably unconstitutional. We think that is reason enough for Congress to stop H.R. 5175 in its tracks."
The proposed exemption would only apply to the NRA, while essentially sacrificing the First Amendment rights of other effective grassroots gun rights organizations due to their smaller membership numbers.
"This proposed exemption is unconscionable," Gottlieb said, "but it reveals the desperation of its sponsors to pass legislation that would still silence organizations critical of how the Democrat leadership has mismanaged things on Capitol Hill. We are today urging our 650,000 members and supporters to tell their congressional representatives to derail the Disclose Act altogether.
"Congressional anti-gunners like nothing better than to drive wedges between effective gun rights organizations," he continued, "and this week's events prove they can still accomplish that. We are astonished that anybody on Capitol Hill would imagine for a heartbeat that they could buy off one gun rights group at the expense of all the others. To think they could actually get away with such smarmy Chicago-style politics suggests that the Democrat leadership in Congress has not only lost its moral compass, they've lost their minds.
"While it is disappointing that the NRA might have accepted the exemption," Gottlieb said, "it is despicable that the offer was ever made in the first place. If pro-gun Democrats want to shield the NRA from the effects of H.R. 5175, they should simply vote against the entire bill instead of trying to carve out a special exemption. They have insulted and infuriated millions of gun owners who are represented by smaller grassroots organizations, and they need to hear that loud and clear."
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
Showing posts with label guns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guns. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Bill That Would Effectively Prohibit African Americans and Hispanics From Buying Guns Advances in the Illinois General Assembly
/PRNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA):
Law-abiding African Americans and Hispanics would take it on the chin under a bill now moving through the Illinois General Assembly. Sponsored by Rep. Harry Osterman (D-14), HB6123 would prohibit any person or entity from selling a firearm to a so-called "street gang member." This prohibition applies even if the individual has passed a Brady Law FBI background check. Making a prohibited sale would result in Class 1 felony charges and possible jail time for the seller. Although the ISRA supports genuine efforts to curb criminal violence, the organization is strongly opposed to HB6123 as the bill's provisions are arbitrary and pose an unreasonable intrusion on the rights of law-abiding Illinois citizens.
"HB6123 promotes racial profiling at its worst," commented ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson. "Popular culture has branded urban minorities with the 'gangsta' stereotype that is pervasive well beyond the confines of actual criminal enterprises. Today's fashion, music, slang and lifestyle are all heavily influenced by the urban experience. Given that the provisions of HB6123 establish no test for determining 'street gang' membership, and given the harsh penalties for violating the proposed law, it is understandable that retailers would shy away from selling firearms to persons whose speech, dress, mannerisms, or taste in music reflect the urban lifestyle."
"Several Chicago nightclubs stirred considerable controversy recently when they denied entry to young men wearing baggy pants and cornrows in their hair," continued Pearson. "The nightclub owners justified these actions by claiming that baggy pants and certain hair styles are indicative of gang membership - despite the fact that the young men had done nothing improper. While the popular press bristled over the nightclubs' actions, the press has ignored HB6123 although the bill would bless, and even require firearm retailers to discriminate against individuals based on their appearance. This sort of cultural profiling is vile enough when persons are denied entry into a private club, but denying one's constitutional rights based solely on their appearance flies in the face of the principles under which our nation was founded. Of course, if a gang member wished to purchase a firearm, all he would have to do is don a Brooks Brothers' suit and speak the King's English and he'd be good to go."
"The bottom line is this," said Pearson. "If HB6123 is passed into law, the calendar on race-relations will be turned back 70 years and there will not be a gun shop in the state that will sell a firearm to an African American or Hispanic person. If that's Rep. Osterman's intent, then he has a lot of explaining to do."
The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. For more than a century, the ISRA has represented the interests of millions of law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.
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Law-abiding African Americans and Hispanics would take it on the chin under a bill now moving through the Illinois General Assembly. Sponsored by Rep. Harry Osterman (D-14), HB6123 would prohibit any person or entity from selling a firearm to a so-called "street gang member." This prohibition applies even if the individual has passed a Brady Law FBI background check. Making a prohibited sale would result in Class 1 felony charges and possible jail time for the seller. Although the ISRA supports genuine efforts to curb criminal violence, the organization is strongly opposed to HB6123 as the bill's provisions are arbitrary and pose an unreasonable intrusion on the rights of law-abiding Illinois citizens.
"HB6123 promotes racial profiling at its worst," commented ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson. "Popular culture has branded urban minorities with the 'gangsta' stereotype that is pervasive well beyond the confines of actual criminal enterprises. Today's fashion, music, slang and lifestyle are all heavily influenced by the urban experience. Given that the provisions of HB6123 establish no test for determining 'street gang' membership, and given the harsh penalties for violating the proposed law, it is understandable that retailers would shy away from selling firearms to persons whose speech, dress, mannerisms, or taste in music reflect the urban lifestyle."
"Several Chicago nightclubs stirred considerable controversy recently when they denied entry to young men wearing baggy pants and cornrows in their hair," continued Pearson. "The nightclub owners justified these actions by claiming that baggy pants and certain hair styles are indicative of gang membership - despite the fact that the young men had done nothing improper. While the popular press bristled over the nightclubs' actions, the press has ignored HB6123 although the bill would bless, and even require firearm retailers to discriminate against individuals based on their appearance. This sort of cultural profiling is vile enough when persons are denied entry into a private club, but denying one's constitutional rights based solely on their appearance flies in the face of the principles under which our nation was founded. Of course, if a gang member wished to purchase a firearm, all he would have to do is don a Brooks Brothers' suit and speak the King's English and he'd be good to go."
"The bottom line is this," said Pearson. "If HB6123 is passed into law, the calendar on race-relations will be turned back 70 years and there will not be a gun shop in the state that will sell a firearm to an African American or Hispanic person. If that's Rep. Osterman's intent, then he has a lot of explaining to do."
The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. For more than a century, the ISRA has represented the interests of millions of law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.
------
www.politcalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
Monday, July 6, 2009
Senior Gun Rights Activist Blasts Obama at July 4th TEA Party
/PRNewswire/ -- "Obama's shifts of positions on gun rights makes me think of a snake on roller skates," said John M. Snyder at a suburban Washington, D.C. Fourth of July TEA Party. "The President slithers and shimmies in the White House, throughout the country, and on the issues," he added.
He noted that Obama's record in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate showed "there was hardly an anti-gun proposal he would not endorse. He indicated he supported the District of Columbia handgun ban before the Supreme Court struck it down last year. After the Court's ruling, he said he agreed with the decision. He then campaigned as a candidate who would support individual Second Amendment rights.
"But when he had his first chance to nominate a Supreme Court justice, he named a candidate, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who in January ruled with the Second Circuit Court in Maloney v. Cuomo that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states.
"That's not all," said Snyder. "He's trying to persuade the Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (CIFTA). This would undermine American sovereignty, and leave to an international body the delineation of Americans' gun rights and regulations of American firearm manufacturers.
"Perhaps worst of all is the Obama Administration's issuance of a Homeland Security Assessment implying that citizens who support gun rights or other American traditions constitute a threat to public order. That's directed against the 100 million people who own 200 million rifles, shotguns and handguns as well as against untold millions of other citizens. The Assessment even targeted returning American servicemen and servicewomen. In effect, the Obama Administration took aim at the American public and the American military. The public outrage was so great that the Assessment was withdrawn, but its issuance shows what these people really think."
A former National Rifle Association editor, Snyder is Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Manager of Telum Associates, and serves on the board of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Shotgun News recently named him the senior rights activist in Washington. He was a speaker Saturday at the Prince William County TEA Party in Woodbridge, Virginia.
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He noted that Obama's record in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate showed "there was hardly an anti-gun proposal he would not endorse. He indicated he supported the District of Columbia handgun ban before the Supreme Court struck it down last year. After the Court's ruling, he said he agreed with the decision. He then campaigned as a candidate who would support individual Second Amendment rights.
"But when he had his first chance to nominate a Supreme Court justice, he named a candidate, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who in January ruled with the Second Circuit Court in Maloney v. Cuomo that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states.
"That's not all," said Snyder. "He's trying to persuade the Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (CIFTA). This would undermine American sovereignty, and leave to an international body the delineation of Americans' gun rights and regulations of American firearm manufacturers.
"Perhaps worst of all is the Obama Administration's issuance of a Homeland Security Assessment implying that citizens who support gun rights or other American traditions constitute a threat to public order. That's directed against the 100 million people who own 200 million rifles, shotguns and handguns as well as against untold millions of other citizens. The Assessment even targeted returning American servicemen and servicewomen. In effect, the Obama Administration took aim at the American public and the American military. The public outrage was so great that the Assessment was withdrawn, but its issuance shows what these people really think."
A former National Rifle Association editor, Snyder is Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Manager of Telum Associates, and serves on the board of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Shotgun News recently named him the senior rights activist in Washington. He was a speaker Saturday at the Prince William County TEA Party in Woodbridge, Virginia.
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www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
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