Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), December 1997

[S]ections of the bill [S. 10] contain provisions that would infringe on an individual's Second Amendment rights. Although, Senator Hatch has informed me that he intends to review these sections, I do not feel that these modifications are occurring quickly enough and have doubts that the changes will protect our Second Amendment guarantees. For this reason, I have removed my name as a co-sponsor of S. 10.

Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO), October 1997

I was an original cosponsor of the Juvenile Crime bill, S. 10, up until recently when I withdrew my support. While I support the main intent of the bill, I was not comfortable with a firearms provision that requires forfeiture to the federal government of firearms suspected of being used in felonies or gun trafficking. Passage of this provision would vastly enlarge federal authority and potentially violate the Constitution, as well as trigger enormous amounts of litigation over weapons seizures.

Larry Pratt, Gun Owners of America, January 1998

Despite some minor changes, S. 10 is still unconstitutional and continues to treat unsuspecting gun owners like organized crime figures. The RICO provisions in the bill are extremely dangerous as they could be used by Handgun Control, Inc. to bring lawsuits against gun dealers and manufacturers -- all with the intent of crippling the gun industry.

The New Gun Week, August 1997

While Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has made some changes to S. 10, there are other provisions which are of concern to gun owners. . . . As written, however, S. 10, which was reported out of the Judiciary Committee by a 12-6 vote, would impose a 20-year sentence for minor mistakes involving . . . supervised handgun use by young people.

Neal Knox, in Guns & Ammo, June 1997

Former [anti-gun] Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) had tried for years to make gun law violations a "predicate" for the Racketeering law (the kind of offense that would allow the often-abused RICO statutes to be invoked). Now Sen. Hatch picks up Metzenbaums' banner in S. 3/S. 10.

The New Gun Week, May 1997

Making gun law violations a predicate for applying racketeering law procedures, an idea once championed by arch anti-gunner ex-Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, has found its way into two crime bills sponsored by pro-gun Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. The concept which tramples on Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment protections is contained in both S. 3 and S. 10.

Joe Phillips, National Rifle Association, Sept. 1997

[S. 10] is not a perfect bill. There were a number of things that were supposed to have been fixed in the final passage of that bill . . . primarily in regard to violations under the use of RICO offenses that were not taken out. . . . It [S. 10] is not quite as good as portrayed at final passage of that bill.