BRIDE OF BRADY UPDATE
As you know, HB 2853 has advanced beyond its last committee hearing in the full Ways and Means Committee and will now go to the floors of the House and Senate.
You can read who voted to protect, (and oppose) your rights, here in an alert from yesterday.
If this bill passes into law it will be the first significant piece of gun control in over 10 years.
The bill has been amended 10 times and although it is now far more restricted than in earlier versions, it still opens a wider door to abuse and misuse of the records that are already delaying and denying legitimate firearms transfers. But, as Representative Chip Shields pointed out yesterday, the Feds are promising to send Oregon some money to get in line, and that was good enough for him.
Of course it is disappointing to see Oregon legislators willing to sell out their constituents for a few bucks, but this legislative session has made the “sell out” second only to the “vote sale” as a regular practice.
Keep in mind, this bill is NOT intended to allow the Oregon State Police to know who is excluded from a firearms purchase because of mental illness (or in the words of the bill, “mental retardation”.) The State Police have repeatedly told us they already have access to that information, and it is the State Police who preform background checks in Oregon, not the Feds.
This bill is intended to share this information with the Federal government, currently run by an openly anti-gun administration. Let’s face it, for years we have heard stories of abuse of records by various federal agencies and administrations. Only two days ago, anti-gun militant Senator Frank Lautenberg and others introduced a bill he called the”Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009.”
In a press release he stated “from February 2004 to February 2009, there were 963 cases in which a known or suspected terrorist attempted to buy a gun. In 90 percent of those cases – a total of 865 times – they were cleared to proceed with that purchase”
So now we will be turning over a vast new database of names to a government that tells us, with a straight face, that “known” terrorists are among us, buying guns and explosives and they (the Feds) are doing nothing. Why are “known terrorists” not in jail? Is it rational to trust this government with more, easily abused data? How will you feel if you are unjustly denied a firearms purchase, but now you must petition a “psychiatric review board” to request that your rights be restored?
We were told the Federal law this bill forces us into compliance with (HR 2640) was a reaction to the Virginia Tech shootings. But even the law’s supporters, (the NRA and the Brady Campaign) have to admit, this bill would have done nothing to stop that crime.
The anti-gunners have a large majority. This bill comes with the promise of bucks from the Obama administration, and it’s very easy to say we don’t want mentally ill people getting guns. There is no question we are facing an uphill battle. But please take one last shot.
Even if you have already contacted your own Senator and House Rep, please let them know one more time that you don’t want the Feds meddling with the gun rights of Oregonians.
Time is very short. This bill could reach the floors of the House and Senate literally at any moment.
Your can learn who your representatives are by using this link.
Your local Senator and local House Rep will be the last two people listed.You can save even more time by using this link and have your message sent directly to your representatives.
Please feel free to cut and paste the suggested text below or modify it as you see fit. Thank you for all your efforts supporting liberty and privacy.
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I am writing today to express my strong opposition to HB 2853. As you know, this bill will force us into compliance with HR 2640, the “Veterans Disarmament Act.” This dangerous piece of legislation will cause countless new delays and denials of legitimate firearms purchases and turn over private information to the Federal government while doing nothing to prevent violent crimes.
Every new expansion of the failed “Brady Law” creates hardships for the law abiding while those declared “a danger to themselves and others” continue to walk our streets. Please stand up for your constituents and vote NO on HB 2853.
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