It's got the Orwellian title "The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act"...
Posted on 04/10/2013 7:23:07 PM PDT by forty_years
Senators Joe Manchin (R) and Pat Toomey (D) today announced a so-called "compromise" bill/amendment which they claim would increase gun safety through improving "background checks," but is in truth a flawed piece of legislation, WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULD ACT NOW TO STOP THE MEASURE (or click here for more options). The title of their bill is Orwellian: "The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act." It is double-speak, as their measure infringes on the Second Amendment -- it doesn't "protect" anything. It will in fact push the U.S. towards the establishment of a national gun registry, the eventual effect of which will be the possibility of gun confiscation.
As usual with "gun control," law-abiding citizens -- the people least likely to commit gun crimes -- will be punished while little to nothing will be done to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and crazies. Stolen guns and the black market will provide criminals and crazies with all the guns they want. Under Toomey/Manchin, law-abiding citizens may have their medical privacy rights violated; they may be denied gun ownership because of invasion of their privacy:
"Under an amendment in the bill to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), you could have your guns taken away because your private shrink thinks you're 'dangerous' and could send your name directly to the FBI Instant Check system."
There are already many articles critical of the Toomey/Manchin "compromise," but let's look at how two respectable guardians of the Second Amendment feel about this flawed legislation:
... Why all the spin [in the bill]? Because the proposal will, in fact, infringe on the rights of law abiding citizens. ... This proposal will scratch the itch to do something, but will do nothing at all except expand bureaucracy. It would not stop events like Newtown or Columbine or the daily massacre in Chicago. But by God they're going to do something!!
... we have a broken mental health system that is not going to be fixed with more background checks at gun shows ... The sad truth is that no background check would have prevented the tragedy in Newtown, Aurora or Tucson.
Here is the text of the Toomey/Manchin measure as it currently stands. Please read it and notice how the two senators go out of their way to spin what their bill won't do, as they already know people can see through their sophistry and realize that their creation will do what it supposedly won't do. TAKE ACTION NOW. From Senator Toomey's website:
Bottom Line: The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act would require states and the federal government to send all necessary records on criminals and the violently mentally ill to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The bill extends the existing background check system to gun shows and online sales.
The bill explicitly bans the federal government from creating a national firearms registry, and imposes serious criminal penalties (a felony with up to 15 years in prison) on any person who misuses or illegally retains firearms records.
TITLE ONE: GETTING ALL THE NAMES OF PROHIBITED PURCHASERS INTO THE BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM
Summary of Title I: This section improves background checks for firearms by strengthening the instant check system.
- Encourage states to provide all their available records to NICS by restricting federal funds to states who do not comply.
- Allow dealers to voluntarily use the NICS database to run background checks on their prospective employees.
- Clarifies that submissions of mental health records into the NICS system are not prohibited by federal privacy laws (HIPAA).
- Provides a legal process for a veteran to contest his/her placement in NICS when there is no basis for barring the right to own a firearm.
TITLE TWO: REQUIRING BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR FIREARM SALES
Summary of Title II: This section of the bill requires background checks for sales at gun shows and online while securing certain aspects of 2nd Amendment rights for law abiding citizens.
- Closes the gun show and other loopholes while exempting temporary transfers and transfers between family members.
- Fixes interstate travel laws for sportsmen who transport their firearms across state lines in a responsible manner. The term "transport" includes staying in temporary lodging overnight, stopping for food, buying fuel, vehicle maintenance, and medical treatment.
- Protects sellers from lawsuits if the weapon cleared through the expanded background checks and is subsequently used in a crime. This is the same treatment gun dealers receive now.
- Allows dealers to complete transactions at gun shows that take place in a state for which they are not a resident.
- Requires that if a background check at a gun show does not result in a definitive response from NICS within 48 hours, the sale may proceed. After four years, when the NICS improvements are completed, the background check would clear in 24 hours. Current law is three business days.
- Requires the FBI to give priority to finalizing background checks at gun shows over checks at store front dealerships.
- Authorizes use of a state concealed carry permit instead of a background check when purchasing a firearm from a dealer.
- Permits interstate handgun sales from dealers.
- Allows active military to buy firearms in their home states.
- Family transfers and some private sales (friends, neighbors, other individuals) are exempt from background checks
TITLE THREE: NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MASS VIOLENCE
Summary of Title III: : This section of the bill creates a commission to study the causes of mass violence in the United States, looking at all aspects of the problem, including guns, school safety, mental health, and violent media or video games.
The Commission would consist of six experts appointed by the Senate Majority Leader and six experts appointed by the Speaker of the House. They would be required to submit an interim report in three months and a completed report in six months.
WHAT THE BILL WILL NOT DO
The bill will not take away anyone's guns.
The bill will not ban any type of firearm.
The bill will not ban or restrict the use of any kind of bullet or any size clip or magazine.
The bill will not create a national registry; in fact, it specifically makes it illegal to establish any such registry.
The bill will not, in any way at all, infringe upon the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
Write a polite and factual letter to the president and each of your elected representatives in Washington. Keep it short and sweet and to the point (e.g., "I urge you to oppose Sen. Toomey's and Sen. Manchin's gun control legislation"). Follow up by calling each of your elected reps, making a short statement emphasizing what you composed in your letter (you can use any of the stock letters shown below). Using any/all of the following links, you'll find the resources you need to:
You can also contact information for all your elected representatives by clicking on these links:
Feel free to use our stock letters:
Feel free to distribute any of these take-action flyers:
Slam Toomey’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/patricktoomey
That common sense reform would help the most.
Thanks forty_years.
It's got the Orwellian title "The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act"...
Thanks SunkenCiv. Please send a few emails, make a few calls, and distribute. E pluribus unum.
While I am very concerned and especially because I have been looking for exact language and they have not released exact language.
I have contacted my Sentors opposing universal background checks on various grounds, but would like to have specifics prior to contacting them tonight.
I’ surprised. There’s a lot of GOOD things in that summary. Not sure I believe it represents the actual bill, however.
“- Clarifies that submissions of mental health records into the NICS system are not prohibited by federal privacy laws (HIPAA).”
So how exactly does your doctor or pharmacist enter data into NICS and is it appeal-able?
Tomey put up a summary but not the bill text, and last time I looked it was not on http://thomas.loc.gov
Anyone who votes for this is not an American.
Since when has it been legal to deny any American their rights without due process? Isn't it required that a person be adjudicated mentally deficient by a court of law to do that? Mental health records are entirely irrelevant except to those court proceedings. This bill sounds like Stalinist purge material.
Is that an admission that the Bill of Rights doesn't cover veterans or an admission that it doesn't cover anyone anymore?
By "all their available records" just what records are they blackmailing states for with that statist bilge water? "All" is a pretty big word when only a very few records are applicable to denying someone their right to keep and bear arms.
“Since when has it been legal to deny any American their rights without due process?”
Since nobody beat down the Lautenberg Amendment to Violence Against Women Act. That allows a lawyer to simply declare that a man gets his firearms confiscated because his ex filed a restraining order. No appeal, no review.
I can only assume from the rest of this totalitarian horse manure that that means dealers can run NICS checks on prospective employees without their knowledge or consent. I have no idea what the word 'voluntarily' means there. Does it mean dealers will be allowed to not run NICS checks if they prefer not to?
This bill is worse than any ban on some specific models or types of guns. It's a huge foot in the door to trash the 2nd Amend., the 4th Amend., the 5th Amend. and the 10th Amend. Is this the Trojan Horse all of this gun control demagoguery was really about?
It is being mightily expanded now. Please read #17.
>>>> 202-224-3041 <<<<
Rubio has "not yet released a statement". The phone calls are supposedly "50-50".
Could we do a FL ping? It would be a shame for us not to show up for this.
He’s getting hammered on FB ..good. I guess people can’t get through to his office. He’s unfit!
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