(Thursday, July 10) -- The momentum in support of Rep. Chenoweth's bill to repeal the Lautenberg gun ban continues to grow. The list of cosponsors to H.R. 1009 is now up to 29, as Rep. Chenoweth's bill continues to be the "bill of choice" for Representatives to cosponsor. (Its nearest competitor has only 17 cosponsors.)

As mentioned in last month's alert, GOA personnel will join Rep. Chenoweth and representatives of several grassroots organizations this upcoming Monday to focus attention on the dangers of the Lautenberg gun ban. GOA will be calling on other Representatives to join Mrs. Chenoweth and cosponsor H.R. 1009.

Check out the following list of cosponsors to H.R. 1009. If your legislator is not listed, send him a Western Union mailgram and encourage him to get on the stick!

     BUNNING (R-KY)      KIM (R-CA)
     CANNON (R-UT)       LaHOOD (R-IL)
     CHAMBLISS (R-GA)    LEWIS, R (R-KY)
     COBURN (R-OK)       McINTOSH (R-IN)
     COOKSEY (R-LA)      PAUL (R-TX)
     CRAPO (R-ID)        PICKETT (D-VA)
     CUBIN (R-WY)        SKEEN (R-NM)
     DICKEY (R-AR)       SMITH (R-MI)
     DOOLITTLE (R-CA)    SPENCE (R-SC)
     GIBBONS (R-NV)      STUMP (R-AZ)
     GOODE (D-VA)        THORNBERRY (R-TX)
     HASTINGS (R-WA)     WATTS (R-OK)
     HERGER (R-CA)       WICKER (R-MS)          
     HILL (R-MT)         YOUNG, D (R-AK)
     HOSTETTLER (R-IN)

ACTION:

This is your last chance to send a Western Union mailgram in support of H.R. 1009, the only bill in the Congress that will fully repeal the Lautenberg gun ban. Call 1-800-651-1486. Get your neighbors and gun clubs to send a message as well, as GOA will soon be changing the mailgram message. A fee of $6.95 will be charged to a person's phone bill for a mailgram requesting their Congressman to cosponsor the Chenoweth bill.

ACTION:

Sign the Women Against Gun Control Petition. At Monday's press conference (mentioned above), Women Against Gun Control (WAGC) will present Rep. Chenoweth with petitions in support of the Lautenberg repeal -- petitions that many of you have signed. Note: if you have not as yet signed the WAGC petition, a cgi version is at Petition. We will append your personal information and any comment you care to make to a copy of the petition and deliver it to WAGC. Men and women both are invited to sign. Help make the presentation of the petition a tremendous moment. If you do not have web access, we will fax or e-mail you a copy upon request.

Bureaucrats Throw in the Towel on Fingerprints (for now)

Gun owners and liberty activists won a stunning victory in Alabama by defeating the Department of Public Safety's plan to fingerprint driver's license applicants and encode the print in government computers. Understanding that computerizing fingerprints into driver's license data bases is part of the architecture for gun owner registration, GOA joined efforts to oppose this scheme.

Confirming GOA concerns was a statement by U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich on CNN calling for the computerized scanning of gun buyers fingerprints through the so-called "national instant check."

Thanks need to go to Linda Muller's "Fight the Fingerprint" e-mail list , Cyndee Parker's Coalition to Repeal the Fingerprint Law in Georgia, and all those who helped them as well.

Gun Owners rising up against FBI Fingerprint Registration

Gun owners are winning victories against fingerprinting in suprising places. On Monday, July 7, 1997 the board in the major suburban Virginia jurisdiction of Fairfax County (just outside of Washington, DC) defeated a proposal to fingerprint concealed carry applicants on a 5 to 5 tie vote.

Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, South Dakota and, of course, Vermont are among several states that do not fingerprint persons who get concealed carry permits. Pennsylvania, with over five hundred thousand permits issued, has little or no problem with honest gun owners carrying for self-defense.