The Capitol Hill Report

Open Letter to Senate - Vote NO on Sotomayor!

Tuesday, 04 August 2009 12:00 Written by Larry Pratt

Vote NO on Sotomayor!
-- GOA to weigh this vote heavily in end-of-year rating

August 4, 2009

Dear Senator:

I am writing to urge you to consider this: voting for the Second Amendment is a lot more important than voting in favor of a Latina for Supreme Court.

My wife was born in Latin America and came to this country legally. Later, she decided to become an American citizen because she believes in the principles underlying the Constitution of this country.

She is disgusted with the campaign that would have you vote for Judge Sonia Sotomayor because the judge is an Hispanic. Hispanics do not vote as a bloc. It is offensive to suggest that they do. Those promoting Sotomayor have too often resorted to that kind of insulting rhetoric.

Gun Owners of America will rate a vote against Sotomayor as a vote FOR the Constitution of the United States which you swore to uphold -- a document which she has voted to disregard on numerous occasions.

Conversely, a vote for Sonia Sotomayor will be seen as a preference for ethnic identity over the rule of law.

That is why your vote will be so heavily weighted by Gun Owners of America.

Sincerely,
Larry Pratt
Executive Director

Out-of-state concealed carry recognition fails in U.S. Senate

Thursday, 23 July 2009 07:28 Written by John Velleco

The U.S. Senate came two votes short of passing a concealed carry reciprocity provision introduced by Republican Senators John Thune (SD) and David Vitter (R-LA). The language would have allowed people who are authorized to carry in their home states to carry their firearms in other states, as well. Even though the Thune amendment garnered more than a majority (58-39), a parliamentary maneuver required 60 votes to pass the measure.

The Heller decision affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. The Thune/Vitter amendment will simply protect the right of citizens to carry firearms outside of their home state without violating the rights of the other states. Thus, the reciprocity language protects the principle of federalism while also protecting the Second Amendment rights of America’s lawful gun owners.

It was disappointing to fall two votes short on this amendment,” said GOA’s Executive Driector Larry Pratt. “Constitutionally protected rights, including the right to self-defense, should not become null and void at the state line.”

State Senate Passes Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act

Thursday, 04 June 2009 07:55 Written by John Velleco

Here is something that should get the attention of federal legislators (but probably won't).

Sen. Mae Beavers The Tennessee legislature this week passed a measure that exempts from federal law any firearms and/or ammunition made within the state, that stays in the state, and is stamped "made in Tennessee." State law still applies to such firearms.

This bill, which has now passed both the house and senate and is headed to the governors desk, is similar to a law enacted recently in Montana.

The bill's sponsor, Senator Mae Beavers, said that “Our founders fought too hard to ensure states’ sovereignty and I am sick and tired of activist federal officials and judges sticking their noses where they don’t belong.” [Click HERE for what should be required reading for the entire Congress]

Brady Campaign Praises Sotomayor's History of Gun Control

Wednesday, 03 June 2009 07:02 Written by John Velleco

As if real pro-gun Senators needed another reason to vote against Sonia Sotomayor comes this release from the Brady Bunch:

Brady Campaign Praises Sotomayor's History of Gun Control

"Based on her background, her experience, and her strong record of upholding lifesaving gun laws, we are pleased with Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court and look forward to hearing and evaluating her testimony during her Senate confirmation hearings." [Read more]

Click HERE to send your two Senators a pre-written message urging them to oppose radical anti-gun Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

National Park Service Gun Ban Repealed!

Wednesday, 20 May 2009 11:47 Written by John Velleco

"Gun Owners of America was the most consistent and loudest voice on Capitol Hill in support of the effort to repeal the National Park Service gun ban." -- Sen. Tom Coburn

Great news for gun owners!

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill today that included an amendment to repeal the gun ban on National Park Service (NPS) land and wildlife refuges.

The amendment, sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and attached to a credit card industry reform bill, passed the House overwhelmingly by a vote of 279-147.

For decades, law-abiding citizens have been prohibited from exercising their Second Amendment rights on NPS land and wildlife refuges, even if the state in which the land is located allows carrying firearms.

With some limited exceptions for hunting, the only way to legally possess a firearm anywhere in a national park is by having it unloaded and inaccessible, such as locked up in an automobile trunk. A Bush administration regulation partially reversed the ban, but that action was singlehandedly negated recently by an activist judge in Washington, D.C. The Department of Interior decided not to appeal that ruling.

Senator Coburn believes, like you do, that Americans should not be forced to sacrifice their Second Amendment rights when entering NPS land and wildlife refuges.

GOA worked with Coburn on an amendment that simply allows for state and local laws -- instead of unelected bureaucrats and anti gun activist judges -- to govern firearm possession on these lands.

The anti-gun leadership in both the House and Senate went berserk and fought to keep the Coburn amendment from being attached to the underlying bill. Sparks were flying on the floor of the House of Representatives today.

Anti-gun Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) whined that a "very good" credit card bill had been "hijacked" by the Coburn amendment. To this, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) pointed out that gun control is the policy of tyrants, as evidenced by the British attempt to confiscate firearms at Lexington and Concord in 1775.

Congressional leaders and entrenched bureaucrats have fought GOA over the NPS gun ban for the past eight years.

But your activism has finally broken through. The late Senator Everett Dirksen said, "When I feel the heat, I see the light!" Well, you have applied a lot of heat. Members of Congress know that they oppose your Second Amendment rights at their own peril.

As it stands today, both houses of Congress have now passed the Coburn amendment -- and President Obama is expected to sign the provision into law (only because it is part of a larger credit card bill that he really wants).

So, congratulate yourself for winning this long, hard battle. GOA was the leading, and often only, national gun group involved in this fight. Your involvement was absolutely vital to achieving this win.

Of course, many more battles lie ahead. President Obama continues to push for the Senate to ratify massive international gun control treaties. There is a battle over a Supreme Court nominee coming up. Anti-gun zealots in Congress are aggressively pushing to renew the Clinton gun ban and close down gun shows.

And as the health care debate picks up steam in the coming weeks and months, GOA is battling efforts to create a computerized national healthcare database. Such a database can be used to deny people their Second Amendment rights in the same way that so many veterans have lost their gun rights based only on the diagnoses of a doctor for things like combat-related stress.

GOA will be calling for action on these and other Second Amendment issues as they move through Congress.

In the meantime, have a safe Memorial Day as we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that America would remain the "Land of the Free."

Yet Another Anti-gun Radical up for a State Department Post

Thursday, 07 May 2009 22:07 Written by John Velleco

We realize it sounds like old news.

The Obama administration -- the one that, during the campaign, “was not going to go after our guns” --
has nominated yet another anti-gun crazy for a high federal post.

This one is Harold Hongju Koh, a Yale Law Professor nominated to be chief legal guru for Hillary Clinton’s State Department.

And, even by the standards of liberal craziness (and tax evasion) that we have come to expect from Obama administration officials, this guy is off the charts.

He wants to apply Sharia law here, proposes to send U.S. citizens for trial by international tribunals, and blasts American conduct in international forums.

Koh has also gone out of his way to be at the front of the cheerleading squad to get the UN into the business of regulating Second Amendment-protected conduct in the United States.

Specifically, in a lecture reprinted in the Fordham Law Review, he excoriates former UN Ambassador John Bolton for insisting that any UN regulation of guns not contain “measures abrogating the Constitutional right to bear arms.” This assertion that our international agreements should actually protect the Second Amendment was, in Koh’s words, “most amazing to a student of American constitutional law.”

Koh went on to argue that it was ridiculous to insist that UN agreements protect the Second Amendment because “the Second Amendment had never been used to overturn any American federal gun law.” Besides, protested Koh, the conference documents of the anti-gun conference had made it “amply clear” that they would not impede legal gun ownership.

Well, it’s time we make it “amply clear” that anti-gun crazies should not be in positions where they can negotiate away Second Amendment rights in international conventions.

Gun Owners of America urges the Senate to reject this radical, anti-gun nominee.

Gun Owners of America Slams Orrin Hatch for Protecting Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter

Thursday, 07 May 2009 21:30 Written by John Velleco

In early May, Gun Owners of America slammed Senator Orrin Hatch for meddling in a Pennsylvania election.

Senator Hatch this week assailed the candidacy of pro-gun former Representative Pat Toomey, claiming that Toomey could not get elected in Pennsylvania in a race against liberal Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter.

"Orrin Hatch seems more interested in protecting his liberal anti-gun buddy Arlen Specter than he is in electing a real pro-gun conservative," said Tim Macy, Vice-Chairman of Gun Owners of America.

Hatch also predicted that the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of which he is vice chairman, will not support Toomey.

"Orrin Hatch needs step down from having anything to do with NRSC because he clearly is not mirroring Republican principles," said Mr. Macy. The person who can't win reelection, if he keeps on the same path, is Orrin Hatch in his next election.

"Orrin Hatch is completely out of touch with average voters, who believe in overwhelming numbers in the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Gun owners and sportsmen in Pennsylvania will come out in droves against Arlen Specter."

GOA points to two recent events that spark gun owners' ire.

First, Arlen Specter, along with Orrin Hatch, provided the instrumental Republican support to get anti-gun Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed by the Senate.

"Every time Eric Holder opens his mouth and talks about banning so-called 'assault weapons,' gun owners know they have Specter and Hatch to blame," said Mr. Macy.

Specter was also the Republican most responsible for the massive one trillion dollar bailout, the so-called stimulus bill.

The bailout contains language that can fund anti-gun activist organizations like ACORN and Moveon.org to the tune of hundreds of millions -- even billions -- of taxpayer dollars.