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Will your Rep. vote to send seven more Schumers to Congress?
  --House Votes coming soon, plus State news
Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
(Saturday, February 21, 1998) -- Congress is soon expected
to bring up two issues of which concerned gun owners should
take note.  Here's a look at those two bills in brief:
Gun control and Puerto Rican statehood (H.R. 856, S. 472)
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on March 4
for a bill allowing Puerto Rican statehood.  If it becomes a
state, Puerto Rico will get six or seven Representatives, as
well as two Senators.  What will this mean for you and why
should you care?
Consider that Puerto Rico's gun laws mirror that of New
Jersey and New York City.  One must have a license to buy
and own a firearm.  And criminal penalties exist for all
kinds of firearms -- even including blank pistols!  If New
York City and New Jersey can send people like Rep. Chuck
Schumer and Sen. Frank Lautenberg to Congress, then what are
the odds that an anti-gun state of Puerto Rico will also
send militant, anti-gun lawmakers to Washington?  You can
bet on it!
Has Congress defended our gun rights so aggressively that
there are seven or so votes to spare?  Apparently, this not
a gnawing question in lawmakers' minds as some of the people
who are pushing this bill should really know better.  [And
what about the bill's chances of passing?  Well, there is
support at the highest levels for H.R. 856 -- as both the
House Speaker and the Minority Leader have cosponsored the
bill. Eighty-seven Reps. have signed onto this bill, most of
them being anti-gun Democrats.
ACTION:  Call 1-800-522-6721 (or 202-225-3121) and ask your
Representative to think good and hard before he supports a
bill that could very well bring in seven more bosom buddies
for Chuck Schumer and Sarah Brady to pal around with.  Don't
take your Representative for granted.  A lot of pro-gun
Reps. are undecided on this issue.
Increased Mandatory Minimums for Gun Convictions (H.R. 424)
GOA alerted gun owners months ago to the concerns that H.R.
424 could empower anti-gun prosecutors to punish gun owners
who use a gun in self-defense.  The New Gun Week (in Aug. of
1997) reported how one Arizona jury was outraged to find
that their slap on the wrist for a woman who accidentally
shot a crook in the back resulted in a mandatory minimum
sentence of three years -- for the woman!  Under H.R. 424,
this MANDATORY MINIMUM sentence would increase to 20 years
if the federal authorities were at all able to assume
jurisdiction over the case.  (For more information on the
Arizona case, go to http://www.gunowners.org/a082697.htm at
the GOA website.)
While truly violent criminals must be severely punished,
tying a jury's hands would appear to be the wrong option --
especially when the rope to tie their hands comes from
Washington, D.C.  Potential jurors like yourselves are the
best ones to decide between the real thug that deserves 20
years in jail, and the nervous store clerk who is prosecuted
because she fired her gun just as the mugger had momentarily
turned away from the defender, perhaps to flee, or perhaps
to locate a weapon. The House is expected to vote on
H.R. 424 as early as Wednesday.
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"Notorious 29" Help Pass Anti-gun Clinton Picks
Gun Owners of America had alerted you earlier to impending
votes for two of Clinton's anti-gun nominations.  Well,
last week the Senate confirmed both choices.  On February
10, the Senate voted 63-35 to confirm anti-gun Dr. David
Satcher as the next Surgeon General.  The next day, Senators
handed liberal, judicial activist (Ms. Margaret Morrow) a
seat on the federal bench by a vote of 67-28.
How They Voted.  Every Democratic Senator voted for Dr.
Satcher and Ms. Morrow.  On the Republican side of the
aisle, 29 Senators (listed below) cast anti-gun votes.  One
should note, that the Democrats could not have confirmed
these two Clinton picks without the help of these Senate
Republicans.  If your Senator is listed below, please voice
your displeasure with him.
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