Hatch was consistent with the 2nd Amendment in 1982; but then we have his recent history...
"While Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) . . . has made some changes to S-10, there are other provisions which are of concern to gunowners.... S-10, which was reported out of the Judiciary Committee by a 12-6 vote, would impose a 20-year sentence for minor mistakes involving semi-automatics, school zones and supervised handgun use by young people." -- The New Gun Week (August 20, 1997)
"Hatch is the powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where many gun bills must first receive a hearing. GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt told WorldNetDaily that Hatch has voted in favor of many gun control laws while claiming to be a supporter of gun rights. In fact, Pratt recently sent a letter to Utah members of GOA with the hope that they would put pressure on Hatch to "bring him into line," said Pratt. U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch spoke to over 500 gun-rights activists in response to recent attacks calling him the "western Ted Kennedy."" (GAO, Mar 2, 2000, "Gun rights organizations at odds")
"He's voted for banning semi-automatic firearms. He's voted for keeping guns out for 1,000 feet around a school -- making them criminal safe zones. He's voted for requiring you to have something to lock up your gun. You can
imagine the criminal will come into your house with a trigger lock on his gun, and then may the best man get his gun unlocked first. I don't think so. This is the kind of thing, and there's many other things Sen. Hatch has been doing. He has a lot to answer for," Larry Pratt told WorldNetDaily. Pratt called Hatch a "western Ted Kennedy" in his letter.
In a March 14,2000 Sierra Times editorial by Sara Thompson, she wrote:
"Both USSC and the NRA endorse Senator Orrin Hatch, the man responsible for the heinous S. 254, The Juvenile (in)Justice Bill. The NRA even flew in Executive Vice President Wayne La Pierre to stump for Hatch and defend his horrid bill. S. 254 would do the following: punish importation of "high-capacity" magazines mandate trigger locks with all handgun transactions mandate unconstitutional, ex post facto* Juvenile Brady background checks, thus revoking rights in a retroactive manner without a jury trial. punish youth (and their parents) for the "crime" of going target shooting with a semi-automatic firearm! Sen. Hatch considers these "pro-gun" provisions! Do you?"
And there is this, dated 30 Sep 2003, from The Welch Report on Schumer-McCarthy bill.
"Already, the Brady Bunch is crowing that passing this bill "would represent the first substantial piece of federal gun legislation since at least 1996" and that such passage would "explode the myth that nothing can be achieved on guns in [a Republican] Congress."
They might well get their way since prominent Republicans like Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah are supporting the bill.
The Schumer-McCarthy bill is an anti-self-defense piece of legislation that will only make the country safer for criminals while opening the door to invading the privacy of all Americans."
The remainder of my post is from Leg-alerts 02-15-2000 at:
http://www.utguns.freeservers.com/legalerts021500.html "While it is true that 20 years ago, Sen. Hatch was a conservative and defender of firearms rights, this is no longer the case. His recent record is abysmal. (Actually, I've heard that he betrayed us as far back as the early 80's but I don't have documentation, so I won't make an issue of it - yet!)
He voted FOR the Feinstein ban on semi-autos.
He voted FOR Lautenberg misdemeanor revocations of firearms rights FOR LIFE.
He has repeatedly worked to revoke our 4th Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, warrantless searches, wiretapping, and asset forfeiture.
He proposed persecuting and prosecuting FFL's for clerical errors under Federal RICO statutes designed for organized crime kingpins - with sentences of up to 20 years in Federal prison.
He refused to filibuster or otherwise impede Brady - although as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee he could have easily done so.
And then there's Hatch's own S. 254 which would:
Ban high-capacity magazines
Mandate trigger locks
Mandate background checks on all gun show transactions (This is the part that inspired Dave Jones to run similar bills in Utah!)
Ban possession of a semi-auto firearms for young adults - even if they're accompanied by a parent.
Allow virtually unlimited regulation and harassment of gun shows - if any gun shows survive.
Provide $50 million in Federal funds to harass gun owners - mostly for non-violent "technical" crimes. ($40 mil for the BATF)
Enact Juvenile Brady - revocation of rights WITHOUT a jury trial, and in an unconstitutionally ex post facto manner.
It's important to remember that Hatch sponsored and introduced this bill. HE added the amendments to include background checks at gun shows, mandate trigger locks, fund Federal harassment of gun owners, fund the murderous BATF, and include juvenile Brady. It was HATCH doing this, not "those evil Democrats".
Even after the Dems made the bill even worse, he refused to pull it. He even refused to support the Smith filibuster.
Now he SAYS he's going to strip the "gun control" provisions out. Of course he considers trigger locks and mandatory background checks "PRO-GUN" language because "they'll protect us from liability". He considers most of the rest of it "PRO-GUN" because it "gets tough on crime" - as if criminalizing gun owners and disarming innocent people will "do something about crime". As if revoking the Bill of Rights will "make us safer". As if making it illegal to teach young people to shoot will "preserve the Second Amendment". Yeah, maybe he'll take one or two offensive provisions out. I'm not holding my breath. And so far, he seems intent on forcing S. 254 through conference committee instead of allowing the much less offensive House version (H. 1501) to emerge as the final bill. "