"No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson
As we’ve explained in recent alerts, HB 473 (Rep. Curt Oda’s excellent pro-gun open-carry bill) got hijacked by the leadership of the House of Representatives and turned into an anti-gun bill by means of a hostile amendment sponsored by anti-gun Rep. Steve Urquhart.
This amended version of the bill creates new restrictions on both open and concealed carry by permit holders on all public and private college and university campuses in Utah, as detailed in Alert #292. These restrictions aren’t in the current law, but we believe that the anti-gun administrators at the U. of U. would like to see them put into the law.
The amended version of HB 473 passed the House and was sent to the Senate Rules Committee, where, according to one of our sources, Sen. Mike Waddoups has been attempting to keep it bottled up in order to let it die. We applaud Sen. Wadoups for his efforts.
However, our source informed us just a little while ago that anti-gun Sen. Curt Bramble, the Senate Majority Leader, has succeeded in pressuring the Senate Rules Committee to release HB 473 directly to the floor of the Senate for a vote this afternoon at about 2:00 p.m.
We ask you to call the Senate switchboard right now and leave a message for your own state senator, asking him to vote AGAINST HB 473. While you’re on the line, you can also ask the operator to deliver a copy of the same message to Senator John Valentine (the Senate President) and Senator Curt Bramble (the Senate Majority Leader).
We believe that the Senate leadership is caving in to pressure from the administrators of the U. of U., who probably view HB 473 as a golden opportunity to get some new gun restrictions put in place on campus. The Senate leadership needs to know that gun owners are not amused by their desire to cave in to the hoplophobic aging ex-hippies who run the U.
Please phone the Senate switchboard right now and tell them that you would like to leave a brief message for three senators: Your own State Senator, and Sen. John Valentine, and Sen. Curt Bramble. The message is: "I encourage you to oppose HB 473" (or whatever wording you would like to use to that effect).
Senate Switchboard: (801)538-1035
Fax for Republican senators: (801)326-1475
Fax for Democratic senators: (801)326-1476
If the Senate switchboard is busy, you may send e-mail. You can get your own senator’s e-mail address [here]. If you send e-mail, please put "Oppose HB 473" or something like that in the message subject header, so that they won’t have to open the e-mail to know what it’s about.
Senate President John Valentine -- e-mail: jvalentine@utahsenate.org
Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble -- e-mail: cbramble@utahsenate.org
Thanks for your efforts. With your help, we might yet be able to kill this bill. The 2008 General Session of the Utah Legislature ends tonight at midnight, so we’re in the final stretch!
Date:
From:
To:
Dear Senator :
I encourage you to oppose HB 473, which has been turned into an anti-gun bill. This bill would impose new restrictions on the carrying of self-defense weapons (both openly and concealed) by permit-holders on all public and private college and university campuses in the state, and it must be defeated.
Thanks for taking time to consider my opinion on this matter.
Sincerely,
That concludes the GOUtah! Political and Legislative Alert #293 for 5 March, 2008. We hope this information will be of assistance to you in defending your firearms rights.
Remember that getting this information is meaningless unless You Act On It Today. If you just read it and dump it in the trash, your gun rights, and the gun rights of future generations go in the trash with it. Get involved, get active and get vocal!
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