Posted on 08/04/2005 11:38:32 AM PDT by neverdem
www.gunowners.org
Aug 2005
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Last week, GOA alerted you to legislation passed in the Senate (S. 397) that will protect gun makers from frivolous lawsuits.
Unfortunately, S. 397 passed with some unwanted baggage -- specifically, an amendment offered by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) requiring gun dealers to include a "lock-up-your-safety" device with every handgun sold.
In addition to imposing a "gun tax" on every handgun buyer, this amendment paves the way for future legislation mandating that gun owners use those trigger locks. Many gun owners don't use locking devices because they want instant protection during a moment of crisis. That should be their choice.
So GOA is now working with Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) to get this obnoxious provision stripped out of the bill. She will be sending a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay, asking them to NOT approve the Senate bill.
Rather, the Musgrave letter asks these two leaders to push the House bill, H.R. 800, which provides lawsuit immunity for gun makers and sellers, without endangering average gun owners. H.R. 800 has been well received in the House, as it currently has a whopping 257 cosponsors.
Rep. Musgrave needs additional cosignatories before she sends her letter. And this is where we need your help.
ACTION: Please ask your Representative to sign onto the Musgrave letter opposing the "lock-up-your-safety" provision in S. 397. She needs as many Congressional signatures as possible to show the House leadership that there is a groundswell of support for pushing the House bill, H.R. 800, rather than just taking the Senate version at face value.
You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Representative a pre-written e-mail message such as the one below.
--- Pre-written letter ---
Dear Representative:
As you know, the Senate recently passed much-needed lawsuit protection for the gun industry (S. 397). But this bill passed with some unwanted baggage -- specifically, an amendment offered by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) requiring gun dealers to include a "lock-up-your-safety" device with every handgun sold.
In addition to imposing a "gun tax" on every handgun buyer, this amendment paves the way for future legislation mandating that gun owners use those trigger locks.
Many gun owners don't use locking devices because they want instant protection during a moment of crisis. Mandatory trigger locks will actually cost lives by rendering self-defense firearms ineffective in an emergency situation.
I urge you to sign onto a letter being circulated by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave which deals with real efforts to gain lawsuit protection for gun makers and gun dealers, without endangering ordinary gun owners.
The letter asks the House leadership to push H.R. 800, a lawsuit protection bill that contains no gun control, rather than its Senate counterpart. H.R. 800 has been well received in the House, as it currently has 257 cosponsors.
America deserves a clean bill which offers real protection for gun makers and dealers. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
BATFE Fails the Test
Raw, uncut footage of BATFE agents testing a semi-automatic firearm for alleged "modification" to full-automatic capability. What happens when the BATFE "expert" is confronted by a knowledgeable firearms expert?
If you own a semi-automatic firearm, what happens in this film could happen to YOU!
Produced by JPFO, BATFE Fails the Test is available now for $17.76 on VHS or DVD. Price includes postage. With your purchase, you'll receive a copy of the exam report by the defense's expert witness, demolishing the BATFE's position.
Get your copy of this eye-opening documentary at http://www.jpfo.org/batfevideo.htm today.
The Senate voted 70-30 Thursday to approve Sen. Herb Kohl’s proposal requiring gun manufacturers, dealers and importers to include child-safety locks on the triggers of handguns.
I think someone could argue that the Senate has possibly 25 RINOs. BTW, don't use such form letters.
Discussion on this topic also (briefly) here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454724/posts
And here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454724/posts
The bill is OK as amended. Throw the damned lock away or use it as a fishing weight.
Some rimfire ammo will penetrate body armor..
If it becomes acceptable to mandate that a lock is sold with a gun, it might soon become acceptable to mandate that the locks must be used at all times. After all, of what use is a lock if no one uses them?
(Consider seat belts, they were first optionally installed, and then mandatorially installed in vehicles, but optional to wear. Since then, they have become mandatory for kids, then for everyone in the front seat, but not as a primary offense, but now that and mandatory child seats are primary offenses in Colorado. "Slick it or ticket.")
We know too much about the gun grabbers to believe that trigger lock requirements will stop at them being merely madated, for sale only, for new handguns only.
GOA don't be stupid and kill this very important legislation over trigger locks. Most guns are
sold with them now anyway.
These bogus lawsuits run up the cost of firearms
far more than a $5 lock and the argument that this
provision will encourage future laws mandating use
of the locks is silly. A future anti-gun Congress
will pass whatever laws they can ram through,
regardless of any existing laws.
Sorry, to me this looks like GOA puffery, trying
to derail decent NRA-backed legislation over a minor
issue.
God bless GOA!
You make a good point. I wouldn't worry as long as gun locks weren't made mandatory. The key to all this is having the right faces on the High Court.
That might be a good key, but a good backup strategy might be to get rid of bad legislation, and to strip away bad amendments from bills presently being considered. It would be nice to think we can depend on the SC for all future times, but we can't.
Don't forget that NFA 34, GCA 68, and Brady were NRA-backed.
The seat belt analogy is on the money!
This is more than just trigger locks. The Performance standard is a deal killer. Also, the movement is on to make NOT storing your firearms with a trigger lock on them a crime.
I thought the "armor piercing" amendment was one to just study the matter for a couple of years. That it really didn't do anything... just a bone to the dims.
BRADY WAS NOT BACKED BY THE NRA. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE OTHERS BUT THAT STATEMENT INCLUDING BRADY IS A LIE.
It's a lie. We didn't have the votes. Unlike the yappy little dogs who do nothing, the NRA fought a losing battle because gun owners didn't have the votes to stop Brady.
Take your shoes and socks off so you can count better. When the NRA fought against Brady they did a head count for and against the bill. Gun Owners were outvoted. We lost our gun rights because most gun owners do nothing to help their rights. It's people like the members of the NRA who have been fighting a losing battle for the last forty years. We finally are making some headway only to see whiny little crybabies who have nothing for their rights except bitch.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.