(Thursday, May 1, 2003) -- With President Bush refusing to recant his aide's statement on the semi-auto ban, pro-gun Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has stepped up to the plate in defense of gun owners.

Paul is circulating a letter among his colleagues, asking them to sign their names in strong opposition to the Clinton-Feinstein-Schumer gun ban. Paul plans to send the Congressional letter to the White House in the near future.

The Paul letter says that Congress is "thoroughly dismayed" by McClellan's statement, in which he said the President supports extending the ban on certain semi-automatic firearms and on magazines over 10 rounds.

The President has remained mum on whether the spokesman accurately portrayed his position.

Two prime backers of the semi-auto ban are Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California and Chuck Schumer of New York. Both senators were the original sponsors of the gun ban, which later passed narrowly in both houses. It was signed into law by President Clinton in 1994 -- but is scheduled to "sunset" in September, 2004.

Senators Feinstein and Schumer have committed themselves to introducing legislation in the near future to make the ban permanent, and they recently applauded President Bush for his support.

"We welcome your support and look forward to working with you to gain swift passage of this legislation," the two senators said in a letter to Bush. "With your assistance, we will be able to pass legislation to continue the ban and help make America's streets safer."

This is not the kind of support that President Bush should be soliciting.

In the letter Rep. Paul is circulating, he reminds the President that "a large and active part of our constituency supports the right to keep and bear arms. It will be a slap in the face to these millions of law-abiding gun owners if this White House and Congress support renewal of the semi-auto ban."

Paul concludes the letter by urging Bush to "listen to the will of the people [and] keep your oath to defend the Constitution and do what is right."

ACTION:

Yesterday, Rep. Paul began soliciting congressional cosigners for his letter. So please urge your Representative to sign onto this important correspondence.

You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send the pre-written message below.

You can also read the Paul letter at http://www.gunowners.org/paul2bush.htm on the GOA website.

------ Pre-written message ------

Dear Representative:

Rep. Ron Paul is currently soliciting congressional signatures for a letter that he will be sending to President George Bush.

The subject of this letter is extremely important, as it asks him to pledge his support to help extinguish one of the most abominable gun bans in the federal code. The ban on commonly owned semi-autos and on magazines over a certain capacity is completely unconstitutional and is strongly opposed by millions of Americans.

In fact, former President Bill Clinton has repeatedly stated that passage of the 1994 semi-auto ban cost his party control of the Congress. That is, many Representatives lost their jobs because they voted for this ban. And many gun owners will again take this vote into consideration when they go to the polls in 2004.

I am urging you to please notify the Paul office that you will lend your name to this important letter. Gun Owners of America will be letting me know who signs on to the letter and who does not. Thank you.

Sincerely,

****************************

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