"I would hope that we, Members of the House of Representatives, now knowing that the NRA and Handgun [Control], Inc., is supporting this motion to instruct that deals specifically with access to guns and keeping them away from children, can we not have a meeting of the minds...?" |
(Friday, April 14, 2000) -- Rep. Jackson-Lee asked for a "meeting of the minds" (see above quote) and she got it. More than 400 Representatives voted on Tuesday to instruct House-Senate negotiators to bring the anti-gun juvenile bill out of conference committee.
If there is a silver lining to this dark cloud, it is the fact that the motion to instruct -- offered by the notoriously anti-gun John Conyers (D-MI) -- was non-binding. But it is a very thin silver lining at that.
The fact that so many "pro-gun" Congressmen crossed the line on Tuesday to support Conyers' anti-gun proposal is a dreadful harbinger of things to come. The instructions ask the House-Senate conferees to produce a bill that contains the bulk of the gun restrictions that were in the original juvenile bill, as well as some Project Exile-type provisions.
The final vote was 406-22. Gun owners can see how their Representative voted by going to http://www.gunowners.org/cgv.htm and clicking on U.S. House of Representatives: 2000 (106-2). However, one can easily determine who voted wrong by viewing the list below. Those who are NOT listed below voted wrong and supported the anti-gun motion offered by Democrat John Conyers.
These Representatives voted AGAINST Conyers' anti-gun motion:
Barr (GA) Mollohan (WV) Chenoweth-Hage (ID) Paul (TX) Coburn (OK) Peterson (MN) DeMint (SC) Pombo (CA) Goode (VA) Rahall (WV) Hayworth (AZ) Riley (AL) Hill (MT) Sanford (SC) Hostettler (IN) Souder (IN) Jenkins (TN) Stump (AZ) Jones (NC) Wamp (TN) Metcalf (WA) Young (AK)
Bliley (VA) McIntosh (IN) Cook (UT) Myrick (NC) DeGette (CO) Rodriguez (TX) Hastert (IL)
1. Please use the letter below to help direct your comments to your Representative if he is NOT listed above. If your Representative is NOT listed above, then he voted anti-gun this week.
2. If your Rep. voted right, then please thank him or her.
You can contact your Rep. by calling the toll-free number at the Capitol: 1-888-449-3511. Or, see the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to identify your Rep. and send the letter.
Dear Representative:
I am outraged that you supported the anti-gun motion to instruct by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) on April 11.
Make no mistake about it, Rep. Conyers is one of the most outspoken gun banners in the Congress. He holds an F- rating with Gun Owners of America, and he is no friend of gun owners or 2nd Amendment rights.
Just what kind of supposed "common sense gun safety measures" did Mr. Conyers have in mind when he offered his motion to instruct? Well, in a speech on the House floor, Rep. Henry Hyde -- another anti-gun zealot -- understood this language to mean trigger lock requirements, a ban on medium capacity magazines, a prohibition on young adults owning certain semi-automatic firearms, and a restriction upon private sales at gun shows.
Judiciary Chairman Hyde is a senior member of the House-Senate conference committee that is wrangling over the juvenile crime bill. Certainly his interpretation of this motion -- which does not differ from Mr. Conyers' -- is what will carry the day in the conference committee.
Do you believe the 2nd Amendment protects the right of the "people"? By supporting the Conyers' motion, you helped send Hyde's conference committee the "marching orders" he needs to impose all kinds of anti-safety, anti-freedom firearms restrictions.
I realize the Conyers' motion also called on the committee to report a bill with Project Exile-type provisions. These provisions, controversial even within the gun rights community, certainly should never be the "sugar" that helps us swallow the bitter pill of gun control. Never, never, never.
There were 22 members of the House who stood for freedom on April 11. I am deeply troubled that your name was not one of them.
Sincerely,