Goode Bill To Repeal Lautenberg Ban
Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

March 27, 2001

Dear Representative:

I want to alert you to a very important bill that will soon be introduced by Rep. Virgil Goode (I-VA), and I hope that you will cosponsor this bill.

The Goode bill will repeal the onerous Lautenberg gun ban which was signed into law in 1996 on the Treasury-Postal part of the omnibus appropriations bill. As you know, this ban has disarmed people for life — for offenses that include pushing, shoving or, in some cases, even yelling at a family member. The language of this lifetime gun ban is so expansive that unsuspecting parents have been disarmed for merely using legitimate corporal punishment.

Moreover, this lifetime gun ban can be imposed for mere misdemeanors, and in certain circumstances, imposed without a trial by jury. Many misdemeanors do not guarantee a jury trial, and the new law does not require that one must be tried by a jury before losing his or her gun rights. Many offenders are now shocked to learn that a minor infraction from their teenage years is preventing them from owning a gun for life. You can read some of the Lautenberg horror stories by going to http://www.gunowners.org/kldvtb.htm on the GOA web page.

The Lautenberg gun ban has not only been opposed by Second Amendment organizations, but by other associations as well, including women’s organizations and pro-family and civil rights groups. Please see a partial list of these groups at http://www.gunowners.org/klorglst.htm on the GOA web page.

Finally, I should mention that this ban violates the Second Amendment and finds no constitutional authority whatsoever. As stated by Rep. Goode, the Lautenberg gun ban “does not specifically deal with a subject delegated to Congress under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, and is therefore unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment as interpreted by United States vs. Lopez.”

Again, I urge you to sign onto this important repeal of a horrible gun ban. You can contact Tom Hance in Goode’s office at 5-4711. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Erich Pratt
Director of Communications