Help Build Momentum For Pro-gun Bills

 

Help Build Momentum for Pro-gun Legislation
— Get postcards and multiply your efforts

by Gun Owners of America

(Wednesday, April 14, 1999) — Now you can increase the effectiveness of your lobbying efforts by 30, 60 or even 100 percent! As you may know, getting Congressmen to cosponsor pro-gun bills is an important part in building the momentum for good legislation. Right now there are more than 1300 bills in the House and another 700+ in the Senate. Not surprisingly, legislators usually tend to ignore most of the bills that have been put in the “hopper.” So how do they decide which ones they will cosponsor? Well, that’s where you come in, as legislators will quite often respond to pressure from the folks back home.

For example, Rep. Tom Coburn’s office told GOA today that our recent postcard mailing had resulted in several offices wanting to sign on to his Brady Abuse Cut-off bill (H.R. 1178). “Those postcards!” his office told us. “You’ve got every office calling us” so they can get on the bill as a cosponsor. Coburn’s bill went from 0 to 35 cosponsors almost overnight.

To crank up the heat even more, Gun Owners of America has printed postcards that you can take to your gun clubs, gun shows, your office, family gatherings, etc. If you hit our website at http://www.gunowners.org/pcards.htm or call 1-800-417-1486 (at any time, 24 hours a day), you can order sets of postcards dealing with the following bills:

1. Citizen’s Self-Defense Act (H.R. 347). This postcard set asks your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 347, the bill that will protect citizens who use a gun in self-defense from anti-gun prosecutors and judges, even if the gun was carried without a permit or possessed without a license.

2. Concealed Carry Reciprocity (H.R. 407). Leave it to Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to always take the no-compromise approach in defending your gun rights. Of all the bills in Congress, H.R. 407 takes the greatest strides toward restoring the 2nd Amendment right to “bear” arms for ALL citizens. Other bills with similar goals don’t even come close. These postcards will create the grassroots demand for enacting real carry legislation allowing honest gun owners to carry their firearms across the country. Remember, your right to carry doesn’t evaporate at the state line!

3. Brady Abuse Cut-off (H.R. 1178 & S. 597). This is the “Smith amendment” of 1998, a provision which GOA members supported with a flood of postcards right before it passed with an overwhelming, veto-proof majority. Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) and Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK) have each reintroduced this important legislation. Like its predecessor, this legislation will stop the FBI from taxing and registering gun owners. But the best part is that these bills contain “teeth”– private individuals will be specifically authorized to sue the FBI for any violations of privacy under the Brady Law and will be able to receive compensation for attorney’s fees.

4. Legislative “Action Pack.” Can’t make up your mind? Get the special Legislative “Action Pack” which will give you a representative sampling of all the postcards above– 50 postcards in all.

Each set above comes with 50 postcards. The sliding price scale goes as follows:

* $6.00 for the first set of 50 postcards,
* $10.00 for two sets (100 postcards),
* $2.50 for each additional set of 50 postcards.

This “descending” price scale applies whether you are buying many different sets or just purchasing multiple packs of the same set. The above prices include shipping and handling. For those who have access to a copier and a supply of cardstock, GOA has placed the “masters” for the cards on the web.

ACTION: Call 1-800-417-1486 or 1-888-886-GUNS and simply choose option “4” to place your order for the postcards. Make sure you specify which of the above set(s) you would like (#1-4) and please mention the bill number(s) as well. Or, order them from the web by going to http://www.gunowners.org/pcards.htm
where you can also download the masters.


The beginning of the end? Well, “mums the word” at Handgun Control, Inc. It seems that HCI has had very little to say about the recent federal decision arising out of Texas– a decision that could mark the beginning of the end for gun control. If you haven’t seen this April 1 decision already, read the case at http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/pubnotic.htm by scrolling down to U.S. v Emerson. This landmark Second Amendment decision is certain to be appealed– and Gun Owners Foundation (the legal arm of GOA) is looking to aid in its defense. Gun owners should bear in mind that federal appellate judges are unelected, largely unaccountable, and often refuse to admit that the Constitution means what it says. It will always be necessary to defend gun rights where citizens have actual power: in the state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.