Pennsylvania Action Alerts

Pittsburgh Zoning Code Violates Second Amendment Rights!
Please Make Plans to Attend This Event!

On Thursday, October 2, at 10:00am, Peter Georgiades, a Second Amendment rights attorney, will be challenging the legality of a recently enacted provision in the Pittsburgh zoning code. This provision restricts ?gun-related businesses? from being established within city limits, even if the lot is zoned for commercial use. This provision only applies to businesses that are in any way involved with the ?sale? of firearms. This is another blatant attack on the firearm industry and Pennsylvania?s law-abiding citizens.

Please make plans to try and attend this important meeting!

Date: Thursday, October 2, 2008

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Location: Robin Civic Building

200 Ross Street, First Floor

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Details: A sign-in sheet will be provided next to the door.

If you cannot attend, please contact the members of the zoning board at (412) 255-2231 and let them know that you support Mr. Georgiades appeal.

Board members are listed below:

Wrenna L. Watson, Chairwoman
Alice B. Mitinger
David F. Toal

Subject: The REAL ID Act of 2005 and Pennsylvania Update?

Part 1: What is the REAL ID Act of 2005 and How Does It Affect Pennsylvania

Citizens?

Recommended and touted by the 911 Commission as a counter-terrorism measure, the U.S. Congress, with no customary hearings and debates, attached the REAL ID Act to an unrelated emergency-spending bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and tsunami relief. It was passed on May 10, 2005 and will do absolutely nothing to deter terrorist attacks on U.S. soil until our borders, coastlines and ports are secured. It will only punish law-abiding American citizens.
Requires the federal takeover of state drivers' licenses and state identification cards.
Forces the states to adopt a uniform driver's license or state ID card capable of tying into a national database, thus creating a national identification card.
Forces the states to link their databases of individual driver information both nationally, and eventually internationally, under the "Driver License Agreement" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_License_Agreement) crafted by Departments of Motor Vehicles lobbyists and ratified by 48 states in 2000.
At a minimum, a REAL ID must include an individual's full legal name, date of birth, residential address, Social Security Number(SSN), signature, physical and possibly other characteristics, a digital facial facial photogragh and machine-readable technology.
Grants the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, along with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, open-ended authority to require biometric information, Radio Frequency Identification(RFID)chips and other mandates.
Biometric information (or data) is defined as all information relating to a biological characteristic of an individual that makes him or her unique from any other individual.
Biometric data includes fingerprints, faceprints, retinal scan, iris recognition, DNA, hand geometry, voice recognition and handwriting characteristics. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/biometrics.html Note: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation(PennDOT) is importing, and has already imported, the digital facial photos of residents applying for or renewing driver's licenses and state ID's into biometric images without their informed consent. In fact PennDOT, with the full knowledge of Gov. Rendall, has already spent $20million of taxpayers' money implementing 11 of the 18 U.S. Department of Homeland Security(DHS) REAL ID mandates despite the fact that the Pennsylvania legislature has not yet accepted the federal requirements for REAL ID, and PennDOT's contract with Viisage Technology to design and implement the program, the costs associated with it and the data compiled under it have not been closely examined to ensure that PennDOT is not usurping the legslature's powers.
The DHS plans to enroll the United States into a single global identification system constructed on biometric data and the global sharing of highly sensitive personal information about American citizens, collected by governments and corporations.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators(AAMVA) is a driving force behind and vital link in the REAL ID effort via its network and access to data collected at DMV and DOT centers located in the various states (see "Diver License Agreement" above). The AAMVA is a nongovernmental, tax-exempt, nonprofit, international organization developing model programs in motor vehicle administration, law enforcement and highway safety, and acts as the international spokesman for these interests.
The AAMVA provides driver and vehicle data to third-party service providers through the "Driver and Vehicle Data Online Access", an electronic means for jurisdictions to sell their records using these approved third-party service providers, thus allowing expanded opportunity for identity theft especially when these records are stored together in multiple locations.
The AAMVA is working to standardize all traffic laws in the U.S. and Canada, and eventually Mexico.
REAL ID is a key lynch-pin in the U.S. government's "Security and Prosperity Partnership"(SPP) agreement with Mexico and Canada, a non-legislative effort to form a North American version of the European Union called the North American Union(NAU), thus violating U.S. sovereignty. The U.S. government could easily establish an agreement with Mexico and Canada to provide equal and non-supervised access to American citizens' most confidential information.
Federal law allows any federal, state or local agency to access the information collected and stored under REAL ID.
The REAL ID Act offers absolutely no controls on what confidential data can be collected from driver's licenses/state ID's, where and how long it can be stored, and who is authorized to access the data for unknown purposes which could include obtaining, sharing, trading or selling that data.
There are no limits on what happens to the database of sensitive information on Americans once it leaves the U.S., which opens the door for corrupt foreign goverment officials to sell or give this information to human traffickers or even terrorists.
With a standardized machine-readable zone, REAL ID will make it easier for police officers, retail clerks and unscrupulous credit card companies and telemarketers to access Americans' most personal information.
The REAL ID Act could overrule any state controls over what type of data can be included or excluded from state driver's licenses/ID cards, thus violating states' rights and sovereignty.
Biometric faceprints, such as those now being used by PennDOT, can be easily linked into surveillance camera networks. Using a biometric image database, a closed captioned TV operator could click on an individual's face, easliy convert it to a biometric image, compare that image with those in the database, and thus identify that individual. This could occur at an airport, a train station, on the street and just about anywhere surveillance cameras are present (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08243/908262-85.stm). Unfortuntately, none of these systems is foolproof, and one individual could be misidentified as another who is suspected of having committed a crime and be arrested and booked for that crime.
With the inclusion of an RFID chip in the cards, the federal government would have unchecked authority to track our whereabouts any time, any place. With interlinked databases, officials in Mexico, Canada and eventually the world over could do the same.
While the REAL ID program is considered voluntary, and states technically are not forced to accept the federal standards, any state that refuses to comply will essentially make non-persons out of its citizens. Eventually, anyone not possessing a REAL ID compliant driver's license/ID card will be prohibited from accessing federal facilities/buildings, obtaining government services such as Social Security benefits, visiting a national park, obtaining a job or boarding a federally regulated aircraft.
As REAL ID is viewed as the primary means to inhibit terrorism, it is highly possible that it will be required tender for anyone who wants to buy, sell or otherwise participate in American society or the economy.
The REAL ID Act redefines "terrorism" in broad new terms that could well include members of firearms rights or other such groups as determined by who is in power at the time. There are no prohibitions against including such information in the database as that concerning an individual's past exercise of his or her First Amendment rights or about his or her appearance on a registry of firearms owners.
Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states that we have a Republic as our form of government and the Constitution is our rule book. The Constitution authorizes the federal government to make seven certain mandates upon the states of the Union and implementation of a national identification card is not one of them.
The REAL ID Act interferes substantially with legitimate privacy rights of law-abiding citizens. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ensures the right for every American citizen 'to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures (including of personal information)...and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause (of having committed a crime), supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized".
The REAL ID Act is likely to conflict with any type of privacy, free speech, religious and other fundamental personal liberty protections guaranteed in each state's constitution. Pennsylvania statuatory law requires a specific exemption in order to take personal information (fingerprints, faceprints, DNA, etc., i.e. biometric information). Otherwise this can only be done if one is suspected of having committed a crime. Note: Neither PennDOT nor Viisage Technology sought or possess such exemption.
Under an unauthorized $45.5million two-year contract with PennDOT, Viisage Technology(Viisage) is creating facial recognition templates from PA driver's license/state ID photos through their FaceExplorer (biometric) software. Initiated under the guise of eliminating duplicate licenses, the personal biometric information of new and renewing driver's license and state ID card applicants is already being stored in a database updated by Viisage. This was all being done without the informed consent of said applicants. I other words, they were not being told by DMV workers that any of this was being done and were not being asked for their permission to do so. However, about three months ago PennDot began informing applicants that they are checking records to see if an individual has more than one license under different names. It is interesting to note that PennDOT only started this procedure after it was brought to their attention by PA activists that they have no statuatory or constitutional authority to take faceprints of citizens. Nonetheless, they had imported all the photos already in their database into biometric images without the consent of the remaining citizenry.
Viisage is owned by L-1 Identity Solutions which is currently doing business with the communist regime of China to provide it with High Definition Closed Captioned TV face-scanning solutions. Read the Rolling Stone article "China's All-Seeing Eye :With the help of U.S. defense contractors, China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state. It is ready for export." http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye
The lead contact in the PennDOT/L-1 contract is an engineer in Pakistan. Why is DHS not investigating this and why are our state officials not demanding it do so?
A contract extension signed some time ago provides for this personal information on PA residents to be stored by L-1 outside our state's boundaries.
REAL ID Director Darrell Williams stated on local TV that this information will be entered into "federal databases".
George Tenet, Director of the CIA pre, during, and post-911 is a board member of L-1 along with Admiral James Loy, retired from Department of Homeland Security in 2002, and who also served in the Department of Transportation as Deputy Under Secretary for Security and Chief Operating Officer of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). What are these to people doing in business with a Pakistani engineer and the communist regime of China gathering biometric data of citizens around the globe let alone right here at home in the commonwealth of PA?
PennDOT does not screen requests for information and mass requests for such are not recorded.This move by PennDOT is not simply about identifying duplicate license holders. It's clearly about setting up a control grid of PA and ultimately U.S. citizens and ensuring the profit of those who are providing the "solution" to a manufactured problem.

Part 2: A Very Brief History of PA Anti-REAL ID Legislation
HB1351 was the original comprehensive anti-REAL ID PA House bill introduced by Rep. Sam Rohrer in 2007. A handful of activists worked very hard to lobby their representatives to co-sponsor HB1351 before it went to to the House floor for vote. They managed to get 96 co-sponsors. Unfortunately, Rep.W.Curtis Thomas, Chairman of the House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, sat on 1351 for months refusing to call a vote to move it out of this committee and onto the House floor. When finally pressured by activists to do so, Thomas instead introduced HB2537, his own gutted version of 1351, which removed all references to collecting, importing and storing biometric information by PennDOT and Viisage. HB2537 was voted out of committee and onto the House floor, where Rep. Rohrer attempted to restore the references to biometrics via Amendments, but the Amendments were rejected and the bill is now in the House Communications and Technology Committee.
SB1220, introduced by Sen. Mike Folmer also in 2007, contains even stricter anti-REAL ID language than HB1351 and includes references to biometrics. Since last year it has sat in the Senate Communications and Technology Committee.

PART 3: The Very Latest Strategy Update and Action Request from Jim Compton, PA Restore The Republic State Coordinator?, Sept 10 2008
the PA Senate goes reconvenes next Tuesday the 16th. Fred Sembach from Senator Folmer's (sponsor of SB1220) office today said that the Senate will only be in session on the 16th thru the 18th, 23rd thru the 25th, and October 6th thru 8th. They will not
return after the election. Fred was informed by Senator Robert Wonderling's (Chair of the PA Senate's Communications and Technology Committee) staff that the committee would not meet on the REAL ID Act. Senator Folmer wanted to schedule a meeting with Senator Wonderling and Representative Rohrer to discuss HB2537, which passed last July. The intent was to amend that bill to include prohibiting biometrics. Senator Wonderling will only be available on the Senate floor for discussing the issue.Fred said that's not a good sign.

We need to make some phone calls to the following Senators followed up with
emails:
Joseph B. Scarnati III (R), President Pro Tempore and Member ex-official of
all Standing Committees. His phone number is (717) 787-7084. His email
address is jscarnati@pasen.gov.
                                                                                                               Senator Robert C. Wonderling (R), Chair of the Communications and
Technology Committee. The bill is in his committee. His number is (717)
787-3110 His email address is rwonderling@pasen.gov

And your Senator, who can be found here:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/senators_alpha.cfm
If you don't know your Senator's name, just type in your zip code in the
top right hand corner.

Tell them that we don't want Real ID in Pennsylvania, to stop PennDOT
from making biometric data on us and to pass legislation this year to stop REAL ID. We have done nothing wrong and PennDOT is violating our God given
rights to privacy from Government.
                                                                                                                 Your call and email is very important in stopping Real ID in Pennsylvania!     Please call and email these two Senators by next Tuesday. If we put pressure on our legislators, we can make a difference. It's very important that you make the call and follow up with an email. Let them know we don't want Real ID or PennDOT
messing with our rights.
                                                                                                                                               The Communications and Technology Committee also has the following members.
Please copy them into your letter to the above Senators:

jgordner@pasen.gov Senator John R. Gordner (R)

chwilliams@pasen.gov Senator Constance H. Williams (D) (cosponsor SB1220)

lbaker@pasen.gov Senator Lisa Baker (R)

jeichelberger@pasen.gov Senator John H. Eichelberger (R)

eerickson@pasen.gov Senator Edwin B. Erickson (R)

bregola@pasen.gov Senator Bob Regola (R)
(cosponsor SB 1220)

Senator_Fumo@fumo.com Senator Vincent J. Fumo (D)
(cosponsor SB 1220)

washington@pasen.gov Senator Leanna M. Washington (D)
(cosponsor SB 1220)

wozniak@pasen.gov Senator John N. Wozniak (D) (cosponsor
SB 1220)

Senate Bill 1220 stops Real ID and Biometrics. Cosponsors of SB 1220 are
on our side. By copying the Committee Members on our emails, it may
encourage some peer pressure within the Committee.

For those in the Pittsburgh area: Adam is coordinating trips to
Harrisburg. Individuals are welcome to stay at my place but we need to
coordinate so that everyone does not show up all at once. If you are
interested in coming to help, please contact Adam at:
adam_F@alumni.pitt.edu.

I want to thank you in advance for your calls and emails. As a team we can
stop this madness. Senator Wanderling needs to get Real ID on the floor of
the Senate and we need to encourage him to do so. Please spread the word               to family, friends, and co-workers. Let's show Harrisburg that we are a force to contend with. Most folks have no clue to what's happening. If they did, there would be a huge revolution.

Yours in Liberty,

Jim
--
Jim Compton
717 243-9967
RTR Pennsylvania State Coordinator
http://freedomtofascism.com, www.restoretherepublic.com

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Merit Selection Rears
Its Ugly Head
Thursday, March 20, 2008

By Russ Diamond

Dear Robert,

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding H.Res.111. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me to voice your concerns. Currently, this piece of legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Rules.

As a Veteran and Lt. Commander still serving in the Navy Reserve, I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation. This bill will establish a Select Committee on POW and MIA affairs. I believe the United States has an obligation to bring home all of its fallen soldiers and to account for their whereabouts. I am in total support of this bill and hope that it will be brought to the floor for a vote.

Again, I want to thank you for contacting me. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with your concerns.

Sincerely, Christopher P. Carney
Member of Congress

Bill To Ban Gun Confiscations Advancing!-- Your help needed in the House

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Great news!

Legislation designed to ban the confiscation of guns and ammunition in the
aftermath of a natural disaster is advancing in the state General Assembly.
The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed the Emergency Protection Act
earlier this month, and the bill is now in the House of Representatives.

In essence, SB 1172 will prevent a repeat of what happened in New Orleans in
September 2005, when police officials stole the firearms of law-abiding
residents. (You can view footage of this disgusting activity at
http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the GOA website.)

The bill now moves to the House, which must pass the measure before it can
go to the governor for his signature. More than a dozen states have passed
similar Emergency Protection laws to prevent a future Katrina-style
confiscation from ever occurring inside their jurisdiction. SB 1172 will
prevent police from confiscating firearms or ammunition from anyone who is
lawfully possessing or carrying their weapons.

ACTION: Please contact your state representative and ask him or her to
support SB 1172, introduced by Sen. Robert Robbins (R-Dist. 50). You can
identify your representative by going to http://www.legis.state.pa.us
(there's a zipcode box in the upper right corner of the page).

Once you plug in your zipcode, the results page will include a link to
contact your representative.

Simply urge your representative to support SB 1172 in the space provided. A
pre-written letter is appended below to help you compose your comments (feel
free to copy and paste the letter verbatim if you wish).

----- Pre-written letter to copy and paste into an e-mail message -----

Dear Representative,

Now that SB 1172 has passed the Senate, I urge you to support it when it
comes before the full House. This bill is extremely necessary, as it would
prohibit the unlawful and unconstitutional confiscation of firearms and
ammunition during a "state of emergency."

The bill would outlaw police misbehavior such as the outrageous conduct in
New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where gun owners' firearms were
stolen. Even though the police's actions were soundly rebuked by the
courts, most of the victims in the Big Easy never got their guns back. (You
can view the disgusting footage of gun confiscation at
http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the website of Gun Owners of America.)

Please work to make certain that no anti-gun amendments are allowed on this
important bill.

Unlike some parts of the country, we in Pennsylvania value the right to keep
and bear arms. Again, please reinforce this right by supporting SB 1172.

Sincerely,

MAKE THIS COUNTRY A
UN-FREE ZONE

SAMPLE LEGISLATION:

Introduced in the House of Representatives/Senate
A Bill
To declare the State of _____________ sovereign of the United Nations
Be it enacted

Section 1. - Short title
The State of __________ Sovereignty Protection Act

Section 2 - Purpose

To maintain and preserve the State of ___________ as a Free and Independent State, as provided in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of this State, and as preserved in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States;

To reject any claim that the United Nations Charter has any lawful or constitutional authority in or over this State, under either the Charter of the United Nations or the Constitution of the United States.

To recognize the power of symbols and flags, and their proper legal function when flown over official State property - which is to proclaim dominion over territory, and to demonstrate allegiance to a given authority.

Section 3 - Findings

Every elected official of this State, and all its political subdivisions, has taken an exclusive oath of allegiance to support the Constitution of the United States. No elected official has taken an oath to the United Nations, and cannot do so by law.

The United Nations Charter is not, by definition or in practice, a treaty "made under the Authority of the United States," as set forth in Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, but is rather a constitution for a world government.

While the Preamble of the United Nations Charter states that it was made in the name of "the Peoples of the United Nations," in fact, the Charter was never initiated by the People of the United States, nor ratified by the People of the Several States of the United States.

Having never been constituted by the People of the United States, nor ratified by the People of the Several States, any claim of governing authority of the United Nations Charter over any State of this Union is wholly illegitimate and unconstitutional.

Under Article I, Section 10 of, and the Tenth Amendment to, the United States Constitution this State has retained the power to repel unlawful and unconstitutional invasions by foreign powers, including the United Nations, by whatever means necessary.

The display of any government flag over any government property indicates dominion and authority over said territory, and allegiance on behalf of the people of that territory to said authority.

Section 4 - Prohibitions

No United Nations Flags or Symbols

No flag or other symbol representing the United Nations shall be flown or otherwise displayed from any official mast, building, or other property of the State of ____________, including but not limited to a county, municipal corporation, township, or school property financed with state funds. PROVIDED HOWEVER, this prohibition does not apply to the display of such flags or symbols for historical and educational purposes, nor to the display of flags on private property.

No United Nations Financial Support.

No legislative body of this State, or of any of its political subdivisions, may authorize from the public treasury, payment of any funds to support any program or other activity carried on under the authority of, in cooperation with, or in relation to the United Nations.

No Enforcement of International Court Actions

No judicial decree, judgment, order, or other action entered by any international court or other judicial body acting under the authority of, in cooperation with, or in relation to the United Nations shall be enforceable in any court of law in the State; nor shall any citizen of this State, or person lawfully on or within the geographic boundaries of this State, shall be subject to any subpoena, warrant, extradition or other process issued by any such court or other judicial body.

Section 5 - Penalties

Violations of any Prohibition set forth in Section 4 shall be duly punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor. Each violation shall be deemed a separate offense. Upon conviction of four or more violations, the convicted person shall be guilt of a Class C Felony, and shall be punished accordingly.

Section 6 - Severability

If any section, subsection, paragraph or word of this act shall be found to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the unconstitutionality or invalidity of that section, subsection or paragraph shall not affect any other section, subsection, paragraph, sentence or word of this statute.

Section 7 - Effective Date

This act shall become effective ________________________.
E-Mail your State Representative and Senators urging them to Sponsor the SAMPLE LEGISLATION above

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