Posted on 10/14/2011 11:00:31 AM PDT by marktwain
Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- The House Judiciary Committee will soon be voting on legislation that will guarantee the right of citizens to carry firearms out-of-state.
And the vote could come as early as today or tomorrow!
GOA has alerted you to H.R. 822 — introduced by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) – and explained the weaknesses in his bill. Many of you have taken action on our alerts and informed your Representative that there is a better approach.
That approach has been championed by Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, the author of H.R. 2900 — or the Secure Access to Firearms Enhancement (SAFE) Act.
The Broun bill has several advantages:
* It would allow residents of California, New Jersey and other “may issue” states to get out-of-state carry permits (say, from Florida or Utah) and carry in their home states — an benefit they would not enjoy under the Stearns’ bill;
* Broun also protects the right of gun owners in non-permit states like Vermont and allows them to carry out-of-state without a permit; and
* Finally, the Broun bill does not rely on an expansive, erroneous interpretation of the Commerce Clause. Passing gun legislation that uses the Commerce Clause for authority could undercut efforts at promoting Firearms Freedom Act legislation throughout the country which specifically declares the Commerce Clause has no authority over the production of intrastate guns.
We need to continue putting heat on Congress, now that this reciprocity legislation is beginning to move. You’ve already sent your emails, but now it’s time to change things up and send postcards. If the House committee passes the Stearns bill, then it will probably come to the floor of the House some time next month.
So there is plenty of time to inundate Representatives’ offices with postcards and mail — urging them to support H.R. 2900 — or to amend the Stearns bill so that it contains the gun owners’ protections in the Broun bill.
So, GOA members, please be looking for the latest mailing from GOA headquarters which should begin arriving this week. And please take the enclosed postcard and send it to your Representative. Then, take the extra two postcards and have pro-gun family members and friends send them, as well. That will multiply your efforts by 200%.
Also, did you see the Violence Policy Center’s “research” which supposedly debunks concealed carry? Click here to see GOA’s most recent Fact Sheet, which blasts the VPC faux report and sets the record straight. Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 FAX: 703-321-8408 www.gunowners.org
About: Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul
I read the story about the student from Arizona (I think) that got caught with his guns in his car in New Jersey and is doing serious prison time. When I made my drive 2/3 across the country this summer, I checked the gun laws of every state I even planned on driving through.
I do not agree with that comment. The Commerce Clause is directly applicable to interstate carry rights with respect to concealed weapons and is the primary basis for either of these bills. Whoever wrote 2900 does not understand the Constitutional relationship between the Second Amendment right and the Commerce Clause.
A state might take the position that sure, there is an absolute Second Amendment right but the court has held that reasonable regulation of that right is permissible. So we are regulating everyone including people passing through--fine that we have a a right; but procedural limitation as we have it is Constitutional.
Point of the Commerce Clause is that states can't do things in the name of procedure or local interest that limit the right of persons from other states to pass through the state of regulation without interference.
The truck driver who carries on his way from Indiana to South Dakota cannot be hassled on his way through Illinois in a way that interferes with Interstate Commerce because he is exercising his Second Amendment right in Indiana and South Dakota.
The situation is to be clearly distinguished from the situation with respect to production of intrastate guns where there is at least an argument that the federal authorities have the power under the Commerce Clause to regulate in state activity.
The latter has nothing to do with actual commerce between the states which is where the interference with the Constitutional right to engage in commerce actually exists.
No vote taken today.
So, contact your reps, in person if possible, during this recess.
Vote should come up as soon as they return to DC.
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