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			    GENERAL-RKBA Digest 309
Topics covered in this issue include:
  1) FAXALERT: Tuesday, November 4th - Election Day by NRA Alerts 
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Topic No. 1
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 21:31:39 -0500 (EST)
From: NRA Alerts 
To: general-rkba-real.nra
Subject: FAXALERT: Tuesday, November 4th - Election Day
Message-ID: 
                         NRA-ILA FAX ALERT
            11250 Waples Mill Road* Fairfax, VA  22030
Vol. 4, No. 44 * Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 * 
                           GROOTS@NRA.org 
                             10/31/97
              TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH -- ELECTION DAY 
While most states do not have elections this year, here is a summary
for all NRA-ILA Volunteers of our activities as Election Day
approaches.
MISSOURI: In a special election on Tuesday, in State House District 3,
NRA-PVF has given pro-gun candidate David Klindt (R) an "A" rating in
this open seat race.
NEW JERSEY: New Jersey voters need to make it to the polls on Tuesday,
November 4th and support Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (R) for
re-election as Governor.  Gov. Whitman has a long and impressive
record on crime-fighting initiatives, and she needs our New Jersey
members' votes.  For other NRA-PVF-endorsed candidates in the "Garden
State," refer to your official "NRA-PVF Political Preference Chart" in
your NRA magazine this month.
TEXAS: Houston-area NRA members are encouraged to support Rob
Mosbacher (R) for Mayor on November 4th. Rob's main opponent in the
race, ex-Houston Police Chief Lee Brown (D), had a dismal record on
crime as New York City Police Commissioner, and as President Clinton's
drug czar.
VIRGINIA: Voters in the Commonwealth are lucky to have three strong,
pro-Second Amendment candidates running for statewide office this
year.  For next Tuesday's elections, NRA-PVF has endorsed Jim Gilmore
(R) for Governor, Lewis F. Payne (D) for Lieutenant Governor, and Mark
Earley (R) for Attorney General.  Also, members of the Virginia House
of Delegates are up for election on Tuesday.  For NRA-PVF-endorsed
candidates for House of Delegates, consult your "NRA-PVF Political
Preference Chart" contained in your most recent NRA magazine.
WASHINGTON: NRA members, gun owners, and other concerned citizens have
been working tirelessly as a coalition group known as Washington
Citizens Against Regulatory Excess (WeCARE) for the past few months in
opposition to the misguided ballot initiative, I-676.  I-676 is
masquerading as a "gun safety" proposal, but in actuality, it calls
for, among other things, New York City-style licensing.  What's more,
anyone who resides in a home where a gun is present would be required
to obtain one of these government-mandated licenses, and it kills the
exemption for stalkers to get a gun immediately for self-defense.
I-676 is bad public policy that means no safety, no self-defense, and
no privacy.  It's no wonder why an overwhelming majority of
Washington's law enforcement organizations and U.S. Reps. Doc Hastings
(R-4), Linda Smith (R-3), Jack Metcalf (R-2), and George Nethercutt
(R-5) have sided with gun owners on I-676 as well. Washington members
are reminded to make it to the polls on Tuesday, November 4th, and
VOTE "NO" on I-676.  If you have any time you can volunteer to the
folks at WeCARE over the weekend and in the days prior to the
election, please call WeCARE at 425/454-4915.  Also, please join
NRA-ILA Executive Director, Tanya Metaksa at the Capitol Rotunda in
Olympia on Sunday, November 2, at 5:00 p.m., for a vigil for the
families of three Washington citizens recently killed by criminals who
were free on the streets due in part to poor record keeping!  For more
information call Dr.  Kerwin Steffen at (253) 265-1986.  These
elections will serve as bellwethers for the upcoming 1998 elections,
and I-676 in Washington will no doubt influence whether similar
anti-gun ballot initiatives will be filed in other states next year.
Gun owners in these states need to make sure they, their friends,
family, and fellow gun owners make it to the polls next Tuesday,
November 4th to vote to uphold our freedoms!
                     CLINTON IMPORT DIRECTIVE
Word is circulating that President Clinton may possibly issue his
directive to ban certain types of foreign-made firearms from coming
into this country some time this weekend. As noted in previous FAX
Alerts, we believe the White House will move to stop all commerce in
certain semi-automatic firearms that conform in every way to the legal
requirements set forth in both the Clinton Gun Ban of 1994 and the
1989 import ban.  Please keep up the calls to your U.S. Representative
at 202/224-3121 in opposition to the President's attempt to ban more
semi-automatic firearms.
           HOUSE DEMOCRATS BREAK WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON
In a related development dealing with the President's imminent
directive, on October 23, a host of House Democrats signed a letter to
the President urging him not to impose his misguided directive.  The
letter notes the signatories' belief that this action "would adversely
affect law-abiding gun owners in the United States."  The pro-gun
Democrats continue by stating, "the criteria selected to differentiate
banned guns was based on cosmetic criteria with no relevance to the
firearms' capability, availability, or relevance to actual criminal
misuse of a firearm."  The letter concludes with, "We believe further
pursuit of this issue will unfairly label the Democratic party as
anti-gun, which we are not."  The letter was authored by Rep. Bud
Cramer of Alabama and co-signed by Reps.  Goode (Va.), Klink (Pa.),
Sandlin (Tex.), Skelton (Mo.), Danner (Mo.), Boyd (Fla. ), Barcia
(Mich.), Holden (Pa.), Peterson (Minn.), Turner (Tex.), Taylor
(Miss.), Stenholm (Tex.), Rahall (W.V.), Hall (Tex.), Hilliard (Ala.),
Mollohan (W.V.), Wise (W.V.), and Tanner (Tenn.).  Constituents of
these Representatives should be sure to contact them to thank them for
their support of our rights.  A similar letter to the President was
also sent by Sen.  Pat Leahy (D-Vt.). Unfortunately, not all Democrats
are on the right side of this issue.  An Oct. 29 AP story from
Jerusalem reports Israel has declared a three month moratorium on the
sales of certain modified semi-autos to the U.S. Apparently, this
action comes as a direct response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Cal.)
letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Fax No. 38,
9/19/97).  In announcing this moratorium, Israel's U.S.  ambassador
Eliyahu Ben-Elissar told Feinstein the move was done for "humanitarian
reasons... in light of the special sensitivity of the issue in the
U.S."
                   HISTORIC FIREARMS AMENDMENT
In the next few days, the Commerce, State, and Justice Conference
Committee will consider the "Historic Firearms Amendment."  This
proposal will enforce the existing import laws and regulations that
already permit the importation of U.S. origin curio or relic firearms,
parts, and ammunition. Two critical U.S. Senators, Sen.  Judd Gregg
(R-N.H.) and Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), have expressed some hesitancy
about supporting the "Historic Firearms Amendment."  Therefore, it is
critical that members in N.H. and S.C. call Sens.  Gregg and Hollings
at 202/224-3324 and 202/224-6121 respectively, and urge them to
support the "Historic Firearms Amendment."
=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.
This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is
available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org
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End of GENERAL-RKBA Digest 309
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