Attention Gun owners

[Carolina Coyote]

This is serious, check out the link below and also the links provided in Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/blairholt.asp

[alscalls]

I think its time for some letters and e-mails ......Who's in?

[Carolina Coyote]

I agree Al, Whether you are Dem. or GOP its time to have out voices heard, those that want to sit back and ignore what this Administration is doing tells me that they fully agree with whats happening. cc

[JohnP]

Blair Holt gun control bill rehashed
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By Wade Bourne
Special to ESPNOutdoors.com

To many gun owners, it's the tsunami of gun control legislation, the mother of all efforts to restrict private gun ownership and the guarantees of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

To others, it's just the latest anti-gun agitation, a formerly defeated proposal dredged back up for another try in this time of shifting political winds.

"It" is H.R. 45: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009. This bill was introduced in the 111th Congress by U. S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) on Jan. 6, 2009. Failing to attract any co-sponsors, it was referred for consideration to the House Committee on the Judiciary, where it now rests awaiting further action.

This bill is sweeping in its gun control proposals. Its summary description reads, "To provide for the implementation of a system for licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes."

If enacted, this bill would prohibit anyone from owning any type of handgun without obtaining a license for such ownership. The same would be true for any semiautomatic firearm that can accept any detachable ammunition-feeding device.

Further, all sales of these firearms would have to go through a licensed dealer. The bill also directs the Attorney General to establish and run a federal record-of-sale system. And it would make it a criminal act not to register as an owner of a firearm.

"This bill validates the concerns of sportsmen and gun owners about what the new congress and administration portend for Second Amendment rights," says Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice-President/General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

Keane continues, "The U.S. Supreme Court definitively said in District of Columbia vs. Heller (2008) that the Second Amendment provides individual civil rights to law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms. (They don't have to be in a militia to own and keep guns.) This bill, however, would treat those citizens who exercise their civil liberties like criminals."

Thus, another gun control struggle may be looming. Pro-gun advocates see the Blair Holt bill as a direct assault on their constitutional rights and freedom. Anti-gun activists feel the time might be ripe for "change" promised by the Obama administration to include this comprehensive gun control legislation.

Blair Holt, the bill's namesake, was a 16-year old honor student in Chicago who was murdered in May, 2007 when another teenager began firing a handgun on a public bus in a gang-related attack. Acting heroically, Holt moved to shield a female rider from the bullets, and he was struck in the abdomen and died.

AP Photo/M. Spencer GreenGarrett Evans, a shooting survivor at Virginia Tech, talks with Ronald Holt during a 'Lie In' silent memorial for the victims of gun violence. Holt wears a button with a photo of his son, Blair, on his suit.
At his funeral, Rep. Bobby Rush pledged to introduce a strong new gun tracking bill in the 110th Congress in Holt's memory. Rush's Blair Holt Bill Licensing and Record of Sale Bill of 2007 failed to make it out of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Rush's new bill in the current 111th Congress is a rehash of this previous effort.

Toure Muhammad, communications director for Rep. Rush, says while the Blair Holt bill would set up a system for tracking guns, it would not an infringement of Second Amendment rights. He explains, "This is not an attempt to ban guns. It is not intended in any way to impede the constitutional right to own or carry a gun.

"Instead, it would simply set up a system for registration of the type guns specified in the bill," Muhammad continues. "It would provide a way for police to track a gun that is used illegally back to its owner. It would be similar to the system we have for registering and titling automobiles."

Muhammad says in 2008, an average of 45 people were killed each day in the U.S. with guns. He says, "The urban cultural dynamic can't be ignored here. In the cities, people are killed daily by other people with guns. Rep. Rush's bill is an effort to curb this violence."

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has another take on the Blair Holt bill. This pro-gun lobby feels it is flawed in that it focuses on the instruments of crime rather than on the criminals who use the instruments. And further, the NRA believes the Blair Hold bill would turn law-abiding citizens into violators of the law.

NRA spokesperson Rachel Parsons explains, "Several provisions in this bill would make compliance nearly impossible. For instance, the bill spells out that if a firearms license holder fails to notify the Attorney General of an address change within 60 days, that person would be subject to a 5 year prison term and a fine of up to $250,000."

Parsons continues, "This bill goes against the core of what the NRA works for. Any kind of bill that would require photographing and fingerprinting for simple possession of a firearm is fundamentally different in opinion from that which the NRA holds. Any law should target the criminal element, but this law would simply further burden law-abiding people."

So, how likely is the Blair Holt bill's chance for passage? Pro-gun activists are vigilant but don't seem overly worried about it. They point out that the bill's failure to attract co-sponsors is an indication of a lack of enthusiasm for it among other congressmen. They feel it is too far-reaching and repressive of gun owners' rights to merit serious consideration by a majority of Congress.

Lawrence Keane of the NSSF states, "If this bill passes, Democrats would likely lose (control of) their chamber in upcoming mid-term elections (2010). The leadership in the House knows that." Keane says some 80 million-plus U.S. citizens own firearms, representing nearly half the households in the nation. He believes that House Democrats will allow the Blair Holt bill to die in subcommittee rather than risk the ire of so many pro-gun voters.

Rachel Parsons of the NRA says, "I think our members and other gun owners need to be aware of what's going on, and they should contact their elected representatives about the Blair Holt bill and similar bills. We want to see to it that bills like this that trample on Second Amendment rights never reach the House (of Representatives) floor.

"This bill has gotten people pretty fired up," Parsons concludes. "They see it as a threat to their constitutional right to keep and bear arms."

[Carolina Coyote]

So where do you stand JohnP ?

[JohnP]

So where do you stand JohnP ?

My two Senators and Representative have already received my letters.  I am a life member of the NRA, a member of GOA, range master at our local rifle range, past President of our gun club, past owner of a gun store and ammo re-manufacturing plant, guided for several years and was Chairman of our BOD at our local Rod & Gun Club. There is no doubt of not only where I stand but where my entire family stands.   

[KySongDog]

We discussed this bill back in January    http://finsandfur.net/forums/index.php?topic=7865.0


Obama and his socialist cronies don't have the votes yet  to move that bill forward.  But I'm sure one day they will try to move it when they think the timing is right. 


I think most folks on this forum are like minded when it comes to gun laws.   Sort of like preaching to the choir here.   


I am a NRA Benefactor Life Member and proud of it. 

[Carolina Coyote]

I agree most members on this site are like minded on gun control, but it not just Gun control that concerns me about this Administration, all the Czars he has appointed and who they are, no vetting, The Health Care Bill , Closing Gitmo, Releasing info of how the CIA operates, Links to Acorn, and other Radical organizations, apologizing to the rest of the world as if the USA is the problem and the list is endless, yet there are a few(Very Few) that when someone post a criticizing Article about this corrupt bunch of ah they will come on here and try to hi-jack the tread with some mealy mouthing rhetoric that sound just like it was written by the ACORN group and excuse me but that does not sit well with me. cc

[JohnP]

This bill has been introduced in the House twice, never got out of committee, thanks to our southern democrats and most if not all republicans in the House.  Like Semp said they will continue to try.  At the beginning of each session of Congress I write a letter to our Senators and Representative reminding them that I will be following their action in the new session and that amongst other things I am very pro second ammendment.  

I am not aware of any of my previous post that would suggest that I am "mealy mouthing" any thing about our 2nd ammendment rights.  

Just to set the record straight:  Twenty-four years active service, 82d Abn during the Dominican Republic invasion, forty-two months Vietnam service with three PH's, one SS and 2 BS's all service with SF. Iran and Grenada with another unit that we don't talk about.  Retired in 84 and worked for another agency that we don't talk about.  Worked the Panama "thing" with them.  After 9-11 volunteered to go back to Active Duty, was accepted and went to Afghanistan.  

One thing I am not and that is "mealy mouth" if I have something to say I'll say it and in no uncertain terms.  

[Carolina Coyote]

JohnP, I'm sorry if you thought I was talking about you NO WAY I have enjoyed your post very much, you were not the target at all, There is no use repeating what I said earlier, but it still stands.  I am a conservative,and I love this country and want my Grandchildren to  experience this country as it was when I was growing up. This Administration is loaded with Radicals and a bunch of Crooks and that pisses me off to no end, a lot of the People that Obama has around him for advisor's are some of the same people that treated the Vietnam vets like they were criminals.  and there are people that use this site that support him.  Again I want to apologize if you thought I was talking about you. I also want to thank you for your service to this country and hope you keep putting those great pictures and good stories on here. cc

[JohnP]

No apologizes need but  accepted.  I get a bit touchy when it comes to the 2d amendment and Constitutional Rights, and I surely agree with you that this is the most corrupt anti-American administration that I have ever witnessed.

[NASA]

this is the most corrupt anti-American administration

EVER!

[Silvertip]

Gee, this thread sounds "Fishy" to me.      Haven't you guys heard of Carnivore or CIPAV.    

[Carolina Coyote]

Gee, this thread sounds "Fishy" to me.      Haven't you guys heard of Carnivore or CIPAV.   

No Please explain? cc

[KySongDog]

CIPAV =  Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier.   It is a FBI spyware type program that keeps track of what you do on the internet.  I heard about it a couple of years ago.


Carnivore is another FBI tool to monitor email and communications.  It has been around for awhile.

No one really knows what the NSA is capable of.   This is 1984 and Big Brother is watching.   

[Huntinbull]

Scary stuff here. Hope everyone is emailing and snail mailing their government reps. Start low and send the pressure up the chain.

Huntinbull

[Carolina Coyote]

Well so the FBI has monitoring system , how does that make this " Look Fishy " cc

[KySongDog]

I think Silvertip is making a joke.   This thread is gun friendly and anti Obama administration so its implied the feds are monitoring this "fishy" talk.     We might all be right wing nuts.   :roflmao:

[HaMeR]

Sooo the gubment is listening huh??  

[Silvertip]

I was ribbing a little, but this is no joke. The progressive liberals at Homeland Security have already branded us terrorist threats, IE. we have guns and hunt. These people, the liberals, are not to be trusted. They will say and do anything to further they objectives.