7/22/04 GOA Praises Coburn As A “Second Amendment Hero”

GOA Praises Coburn As A “Second Amendment Hero”

For Immediate Release

(Springfield, VA) — Gun Owners of America today praised Tom Coburn for his hard work in defending the rights of gun owners while he was a Congressman.

“In the 1990s, Tom Coburn was one of best pro-gun leaders we had in the Congress,” said GOA Director of Communications Erich Pratt.

Nearly a decade ago, then-Congressman Tom Coburn joined Second Amendment advocates to successfully battle anti-gun provisions in Clinton-supported so-called “terrorism” legislation — provisions that could have sent thousands of law-abiding gun owners and gun dealers to prison.

“Now, Coburn is being attacked for that pro-gun position by anti-gun politician Kirk Humphreys, who is challenging him for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Don Nickles,” Pratt said. “The truth is that Tom Coburn was a leader in defeating enemies of the Second Amendment who tried to use the banner of ‘terrorism’ to further their contemptible ends.”

Coburn has been attacked by his opponent for opposing the Aviation Security Act of 1996, a bill which also attacked gun owner rights.

Pro-gun champions in the House like Tom Coburn — and Democrat Harold Volkmer (MO), who was famous for having sponsored the McClure-Volkmer bill in the mid-1980s to stop many BATF abuses of gun owners — opposed this bill. Volkmer, who was also an NRA Board Member, said this bill would do nothing to stop acts of terrorism. He was correct.

“This Aviation Security Act was a joke,” Pratt said. “It was an anti-gun bill that did nothing to stop terrorism — as the nation learned on September 11, 2001. Real aviation security would have involved giving the pilots guns, something which they were prohibited from using on 9-11.

“Rep. Coburn was right to oppose this gun control bill that was masquerading as an aviation security measure. And Gun Owners of America lauds him for upholding his oath of office and voting to protect the Constitution against additional infringements upon the rights of the people, Pratt said.

NOTE: A Fact Sheet dealing with the votes in question is available upon request.

— GOA —

Erich Pratt is Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America, a national gun lobby with over 300,000 members located at 8001 Forbes Place, Springfield, VA 22151.

Either Erich Pratt or another GOA spokesman is available for press interviews.