ACTION ALERT
House Passes Bill To Repeal D.C. Gun Ban
– Action now needed in the U.S. Senate
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
By Larry Pratt
You may not have been watching the battle that is brewing over concealed carry in the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, Georgia, but it may end up affecting you where you live.
Thank you so much for your activism!
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives opted to pass Representative
Childers' D.C. gun ban repeal instead of the anti-gun bill sponsored by Del.
Eleanor Holmes Norton -- which would have allowed D.C. to continue enacting
gun control.
The bill now goes to the Senate, but unless there is a ton of pressure put
on Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the bill will languish in committee.
Thankfully, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is spearheading an effort to
get a vote on the House-passed bill. She is asking her fellow Senators to
cosponsor a letter which she will then deliver to Sen. Reid.
The Hutchison letter points out that, "In DC v. Heller, the court
affirmed
that the District of Columbia's ban on ownership of handguns was an
unconstitutional restriction on that right."
After noting that D.C. has continued to deprive its residents of their
Second Amendment rights for more than 30 years, the letter asks Sen. Reid
"to ensure that D.C. residents do not have to wait any longer to realize
their constitutional rights by allowing the full Senate to consider H.R.
6842 before the 110th Congress concludes."
(Norton's bill was the original HR 6842, but it now contains the Childers
pro-gun language instead -- thanks in no small part to your efforts.)
There are not many days left before Congress recesses for the remainder of
the year, and Sen. Reid is expected to try to run out the clock on the D.C.
repeal bill. That's why it's important to act quickly and contact your own
two U.S. Senators.
This is the last chance we have this year to put some teeth into the Supreme
Court's decision in Heller. Gun Owners of America will score the signing of
this letter in its upcoming congressional rating.
ACTION: Please contact your two Senators and ask them to cosign the
Hutchison letter to Senator Reid. You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your Senators
the pre-written e-mail message below. And, you can call your Senators at
202-224-3121 or toll-free at 1-877-762-8762.
----- Prewritten letter -----
Dear Senator:
I was happy to see that the House of Representatives voted for the Childers
substitute language which will repeal the D.C. gun ban (HR 6842).
I recognize that there is not much time left in the legislative session, and
so I hope you will do everything in your power to pressure Majority Leader
Harry Reid to bring up HR 6842 for a vote.
Hence, I urge you to cosign by Friday the Hutchison letter which urges Reid
"to ensure that D.C. residents do not have to wait any longer to realize
their constitutional rights by allowing the full Senate to consider H.R.
6842 before the 110th Congress concludes."
Gun Owners of America will score the signing of this letter in its upcoming
congressional rating. Please let me know how you intend to act.
Sincerely,
Larry Pratt has been Executive Director of Gun Owners of America for 27 years. GOA is a national membership organization of 300,000 Americans dedicated to promoting their second amendment freedom to keep and bear arms.
He published a book, Armed People Victorious
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