(This news release sent to Capitol Hill on July 22, 1997) -- State Rep. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp made a compelling case for the freedom position during the Women's Gun Rights Day last week.
Among other things, Rep. Gratia-Hupp noted how "well-intentioned" gun control laws have serious consequences for law-abiding citizens. Gun Owners of America has previously documented how many otherwise law-abiding citizens have seen the Lautenberg ban revoke their firearms rights for either spanking a child, slapping a husband or simply getting into a verbal shouting match.
Indeed, one of the speakers at the press conference last week recounted his own horror story connected with the passage of the Lautenberg gun ban.
This father had gone through an ugly divorce several years ago. On one occasion, his estranged wife, with the encouragement of her mother, reported the man to the police for child abuse. The man had spanked his daughter with an open hand on the buttocks. After a nasty court battle, the man finally accepted a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction.
Upon learning of the Lautenberg gun ban, this GOA member, seeking to be in compliance with the law, sold his collection of firearms. He has been disarmed for life for simply spanking his own daughter. And ironically, the man and his ex-wife are now living together and are seeking reconciliation with the intent to marry.
This member's horror story is by no means an isolated incident. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) strongly opposes the Lautenberg gun ban because of the way in which this legislation affects its members.
"We see innocent parents erroneously charged with child abuse or domestic violence simply because they practice reasonable, lawful, corporal punishment in their homes," said Doug Domenech, Director of Government Affairs for HSLDA.
"This law could provide vigilante prosecutors the power to seize the guns of parents who are not following Dr. Spock's politically correct method of child rearing," Domenech said.
Finally, Rep. Helen Chenoweth announced last week that American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho has come out in opposition to the Lautenberg gun ban as passed last year.
The ACLU chapter noted that, "it was inappropriate and a violation of the rights of individual citizens to impose a limitation on gun ownership retroactively for offenses that may have occurred years before."
Currently, Rep. Chenoweth's bill (HR 1009) has 30 cosponsors. If you [are a member of Congress and] would like to join this effort, please call Joe Mertz at 5-6611.