*********** NOTICE: THIS IS A FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** 
============================================================================
   Pro-gun Senator Bob Smith Puts Hold on Hatch's Horror Bill!
   -- More news reports praise GOA members for their hard work
                    by Gun Owners of America
      8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA  22151,
             (703)321-8585, http://www.gunowners.org
Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) puts "hold" on anti-gun crime bill (S.
10)
     (Friday, March 6, 1998) -- Your hard work has paid off!
Many of you have sent postcards, telegrams, faxes and e-mails to
Senator Bob Smith, asking him to put a hold on S. 10.  Last
Friday, Senator Smith heeded the call and "stepped up to the
plate" in defense of gun owners' rights.
     In a letter to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Smith said
that he has told Majority Leader Lott of his objection "to any
unanimous consent agreement" with respect to S. 10.  In sum, this
parliamentary procedure by Sen. Smith makes it very difficult for
S. 10 to come up for a vote unless there are changes made to the
bill -- changes that will resolve his concerns with the bill.
     In his February 27 letter, Sen. Smith says, "My concerns
about S. 10 relate primarily to the Second Amendment implications
of the provisions of the bill involving the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).  I would be happy to work
with you to resolve my concerns about the bill."
     ACTION:  Contact Senator Smith and THANK HIM for his bold
step in defense of gun owners.  Thank him for his "hold" on S.10
and encourage him to keep that "hold" in place until EVERY
single piece of gun control is stripped from the bill.
(Ph: 202-224-2841; Fx: 202-224-1353; Capitol Switchboard:
1-800-522-6721; E-mail: opinion@smith.senate.gov)
More news media recognizing GOA & its members for their diligent
efforts on S 10
     As GOA members turn up the heat, more and more news media
are taking notice.  Last week, we reprinted for you the positive
quote from U.S. News & World Report.  This week, the D.C.-based
Legal Times (3/2/98) did an in-depth story on the opposition to
S. 10.  Here's what the article had to say about your involvement
in the battle:
          . . . Pro-gun groups have also been active against [S.
     10].  Gun Owners of America, the Springfield, VA.-based
     group whose unwavering opposition to gun ownership
     restriction makes the National Rifle Association look like
     a liberal interest group, has repeatedly hammered the
     legislation and taken credit for persuading at least three
     Republican senators of the bill's approximately two dozen
     cosponsors to withdraw their support.
          The bill's section on juvenile gangs, the gun owners'
     group says, contains provisions that would subject a gun
     dealer to the treble damage penalties of the Racketeer
     Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act if the dealer
     committed two or more federal gun law violations.
          "Gun dealers tell us this bill could put them out of a
     job," says Erich Pratt, the group's legislative director
     and son of founder [sic] Larry Pratt.
          Using a sophisticated Web site, the Gun Owners of
     America has mounted a massive lobbying campaign to mobilize
     its 200,000 members, focusing on conservative Republicans
     who were among the bill's Senate co-sponsors.
          "We got e-mails, letters, and calls," says Mark Baker,
     the legislative director for Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), a
     diehard gun supporter.  "At town meetings, people would be
     saying:  "What the hell are you doing on that S. 10
     anyway?"
          The result:  Burns and two Republican colleagues --
     Colorado's Wayne Allard and New Hampshire's Robert Smith --
     withdrew their names from the bill.   "We're pretty pleased
     about this," says Pratt.  "As you know, jumping off the
     ship is not a common occurrence on the Hill." . . .
One more Senator jumps ship!
     GOA prepped you in an earlier alert to the possibility that
another Senator would remove his name as a cosponsor of S. 10.
Well, Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY) became the fourth Senator to
jump off of S. 10.  In a letter (dated February 26) to Senate
Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Thomas stated that,
"In its current state, not enough safeguards have been written
into the bill to protect legal gun users from frivolous civil
litigation and from the forfeiture of firearms suspected of
involvement in a felony or gun trafficking. . . . I cannot lend
my name to the bill in this form."
***********************************************************
Are you receiving this as a cross-post? To be certain of
getting up-to-the-minute information, please consider
joining the GOA E-mail Alert Network directly. The service
is free, your address remains confidential, and the volume
is quite low: five messages a week would be a busy week
indeed. To subscribe, simply send a message (or forward
this notice) to goamail@gunowners.org and include your
state of residence in either the subject line or the body.
...          ******** NOTE: THIS IS A FORWARDED MESSAGE ********
--- FMail 1.22
---------------