"Large numbers of Americans tote guns because they're assertive, self-reliant citizens, not docile subjects of a permanent governing class. The Second Amendment is philosophically consistent with the First Amendment…..Both amendments embody the American view that liberty is not the gift of the state, and its defense cannot be outsourced exclusively to the government."
-- Mark Steyn
Every winter, the Utah State Legislature meets for six weeks primarily to cause trouble and, occasionally, to undo some of its past mistakes and maybe even make an improvement or two to the existing laws every now and then. As usual, this presents us with challenges as well as opportunities.
The good news is that several bills are being drafted that could have the effect of protecting or expanding your right to own and carry weapons. The bad news is that several bills are being drafted that could have the effect of further restricting those rights. The only way that the good bills stand a chance of passing and the bad bills stand a chance of getting defeated is if individual citizens like you are willing to contribute a little bit of your time to contact the appropriate politicians.
Thus far, we’re aware of two significant threats to the right to keep and bear arms this session. One is SB 96, a Senate bill that we outlined in our last alert, which is designed to completely eliminate the issuance of Utah concealed-weapon permits to non-Utahns, as well as to impose new restrictions on Utah residents who have permits. Although this bill is being sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy, (D-2), we’ve heard from a source we consider to be reliable that Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. is strongly pushing this bill from behind the scenes. We invite Gov. Huntsman to confirm or deny this allegation.
The other major threat to your Second-Amendment rights is something that many of you probably haven’t heard of. We call it "felony creep". This is basically a back-door form of gradual gun control. Here’s how it works:
There are three basic classifications of crimes: infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. Throughout most of American history, felony status has been reserved for the most heinous crimes, such as murder, rape, robbery, and that sort of thing. In 1968, Congress passed a law that prohibits you from possessing a firearm if you have any kind of felony record. When this federal ban on the possession of firearms by felons was passed, it was aimed at murderers, rapists, robbers, and other violent criminals as a way to discourage them from using guns and as a way to put them back in prison if they got caught with a gun. Since then, however, all sorts of minor crimes have been elevated to felony status, at both the state and federal levels. And each year, the Legislature considers several well-intentioned bills that could enable prosecutors to bring felony charges against someone for a minor act. For example, one bill that was defeated a few years back (due to opposition from gun owners) would have enabled prosecutors to bring felony charges against you if you changed the antifreeze in your car and allowed some of the antifreeze to spill onto the ground and form a puddle, and an animal subsequently drank the antifreeze and died. While we don’t condone such irresponsible behavior, we don’t think it should result in the permanent revocation of a person’s Second-Amendment rights.
If the Utah Legislature decided to elevate jaywalking to a felony, for example, and if you then got convicted of jaywalking, you would automatically and permanently lose your right to possess a firearm or ammunition. You couldn’t even hold a gun in your hands for the rest of your life, let alone use one for target practice, hunting, self-defense, or collecting. If the Feds caught you possessing a gun at any time after you served your sentence for jaywalking – even decades later -- you could spend five years in federal prison (ten years if you also got caught with ammunition in your possession).
While jaywalking is not yet a felony, it seems we’re moving in that direction. And the U.S. Justice Department has, in recent years, been very vigorous about prosecuting and imprisoning decent Americans for possessing firearms simply because those individuals had some sort of technical or non-violent felony on their record.
GOUtah! believes that you shouldn’t be permanently stripped of your Second-Amendment rights for a minor act. Thus, as long as the automatic lifetime ban on gun ownership for felons continues to exist, we’ll oppose any legislation that could have the effect of turning a minor act into a felony. We encourage you to contact your state senator, your state representative, and the Governor, asking them to oppose all such bills during this legislative session. Please see the Action Item below for details about how to do this.
Letters to your State Senator and State Representative can be sent to the State Capitol via regular mail, Fax, or e-mail. Regular mail gets the most attention and is good to use for communications that aren’t time-critical. Faxes work well for time-critical stuff, but you need to make sure that you put the name of the legislator you are contacting at the top of the page where it’s easy to see. Also, you can phone your senator and representative at home in the evening during the week (if they live within commuting distance of the Capitol) or you can phone them at home on weekends, or you can leave a phone message for them at the Capitol during regular weekday business hours. E-mails are OK, but are not generally as effective as letters, Faxes, or phone calls. But an e-mail message is certainly better than nothing, and in some cases when time is very limited it may be the best way to go. Each legislator has a laptop on his desk and gets frequent e-mail updates.
This week marks the beginning of the 2009 General Session of the Utah Legislature.
Please send a message this week to your State Senator, your State Representative, and the Governor, asking them to support your right to own and carry firearms for lawful purposes, and asking them to oppose any legislation that would diminish that right for you or for any other law-abiding citizen. Ask them also to oppose any legislation that would elevate minor acts to felony status. A pre-written letter is included below. You may copy and paste the text, filling in the blanks as appropriate. Please feel free to modify the text if you wish, or send it as-is, or write your own letter. The important thing is to send a message in the next few days. If you really want to make extra impact, you can print out the letter, sign it, and mail it. Otherwise, you can Fax it or e-mail it.
To find complete contact info for your own state senator and state representative, including e-mail addresses, home phone numbers, and mailing addresses, [Click Here].
Here is the Capitol Hill contact info for the Senate, the House, and the Governor’s Office. Please keep this in a handy location so you can use it in the future. Note that the addresses have changed since last year, because the Legislature has moved back into the Capitol Building. For e-mail addresses and home phone numbers, please refer to the GOUtah! website as mentioned above.
[your senator’s name goes here]
Utah State Senate
P.O. Box 145115
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
Phone: (801)538-1035
Fax for Republican senators: (801)326-1475
Fax for Democratic senators: 801-326-1476
[your representative’s name goes here]
Utah State House of Representatives
P.O. Box 145030
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
Phone (801)538-1029
Fax for Republican representatives: (801)326-1544
Fax for Democratic representatives: (801)326-1539
Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
Phone: (801)538-1000
Fax: (801)538-1528
Webmail: http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_comment.html
As we informed you in our previous alert the US Senate was due to consider the nomination of Eric Holder as US Attorney General. The hearing on this confirmation was postponed until this week. So, if you have not contacted you US Senators yet urging them to oppose Holder's confirmation there is still time to do so this week. If you like, you may use our pre-written letter asking them to reject this nominee.
On 20 January our friends at Gun Owners of America (GOA) posted the following e-mail alert.
"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear...."
As our new President takes his oath of office today, the war against our rights is soon to begin. In fact, it has already begun, as Obama's choice for Attorney General (Eric Holder) is one of the most anti-gun picks that he could have made.
As we mentioned in last week's alert, Holder supported policies -- during his tenure in the Clinton administration -- that were aimed at driving the nation's gun dealers and manufacturers out of business. As part of an Obama administration, he will have even more power to continue his war against gun owners.
At lot has happened since you received our alert last week. GOA was asked by the Judiciary Committee to testify at the Senate hearings on Eric Holder, as we were the ONLY national gun group that has told Senators we will rate their vote on confirming Holder.
We also "hammered" one of the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee -- Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah -- in his home state after he announced his support of the Holder nomination.
Last week, GOA issued a stinging alert and mobilized its members in the state of Utah after The Hill reported on January 12 that Hatch "will support Eric Holder's nomination for attorney general, giving him a major boost toward confirmation."
GOA is never timid about putting the heat on faltering legislators, no matter what their party affiliation. Strangely, GOA was disinvited from appearing before the Judiciary Committee, and not allowed to present testimony.
Well, the Committee might try to squelch our voice, but they cannot squelch yours. Your Senators have to answer to you -- and they need to hear that an Attorney General who just argued (in the DC v. Heller case) that there is no individual right to keep and bear arms does NOT deserve to be confirmed.
Please take the recommended action suggested below, even if you have already contacted your Senators. This is just too important.
And now for some good news... Bush commutes the sentences of Ramos and Compean!
You might remember that, last month, GOA and its members issued a strong plea to President Bush, urging him to pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Antonio Compean -- two Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to ten years in prison in 2007 for shooting a smuggler. Their conviction was fraudulent, as there is no such crime as "using a gun in a federal crime."
Because this precedent could greatly impact all gun owners, GOA got involved in this case and submitted amicus briefs in the courts. If the feds can prosecute its own agents on trumped up charges for "using" a gun in a crime, then why not also a mom or dad who is driving their kids through a gun free school zone while armed?
Well, good news arrived yesterday when President Bush -- as one of his last acts in office -- listened to GOA members and commuted the two agents' sentences! We wish a full pardon had been granted, erasing their felony conviction, but at least they will be home soon with their families.
----- Prewritten Letter -----
Dear Senator:
I urge you to vote AGAINST Eric Holder for U.S. Attorney General.
Holder has been a long-time gun control activist. Most recently, he joined 12 other former Justice Department officials in SUPPORTING the DC gun ban and arguing the Second Amendment does NOT protect an individual right.
Thankfully, the Supreme Court ruled against Holder in the DC v. Heller case. But this is a man who will try any means to enforce gun control.
Remember his attempts -- as an official in the Clinton Administration -- to make an end-run around Congress and use the courts (through litigation) to impose gun control? He strongly approved of the HUD lawsuits against the gun industry, where through a system of extortion, HUD only promised to drop the lawsuits if gun makers would impose certain gun restrictions.
Eric Holder is tremendously out of step with the American people. In February, 2008, a USA Today/Gallup poll reported that 73% of all Americans support the INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms. Eric Holder is in the extreme minority. Please don't vote to put him into a position where he will be able to use the force of government to discourage gun ownership in America.
Please vote NO on Eric Holder for Attorney General.
Sincerely,
"I have learned that Sen. Orrin Hatch intends to support Eric Holder's nomination for attorney general. Eric Holder's record shows his antipathy to our gun rights:
He has supported handgun licensing, a three-day waiting period for firearms purchasers and rationing handgun buyers to one per month.
He supported the Clinton administration's efforts to impose gun control both through executive regulations and the courts.
After 9/11, Holder supported bills that would put gun shows out of business.
Holder joined 12 other Justice Department officials in supporting the Washington, D.C., gun ban.
How can a self-proclaimed pro-gun Republican senator, as Sen. Hatch claims to be, support the anti-gun nomination of Eric Holder?"
-- Blaine Nay, in a letter printed in the Deseret News, 16 January 2009.
"Senator McCoy has projected these paranoid fantasies and mounted the most serious, egregious assault on firearms and the right to self defense that we've ever seen in the state. There was no attempt to bring stakeholders to the table to address concerns. There was no good-faith effort here. This is an attack."
-- Charles Hardy, policy director for Gun Owners of Utah, in an article printed in The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 January 2009.
"The budget has nothing to do with it. He is misrepresenting the facts and he's going back to the old line that Utah taxpayers are footing the bill. We have experts on our side. Let's honestly address the real issues. Let's work together."
-- Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Concealed Weapon Review Board, in an article printed in The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 January 2009.
"Orrin Hatch intends to support Eric Holder's nomination for attorney general even though Holder's record shows his antipathy to our gun rights:
» Holder has supported handgun licensing, a three-day waiting period for firearms purchasers and rationing handgun buyers to one per month.
» Holder supported Clinton administration efforts to make an end run around the Congress by imposing gun control through executive regulations and the courts.
» After 9/11, Holder supported bills that would put gun shows out of business, even though the terrorists used box cutters found at any hardware store.
» In District of Columbia v. Heller, Holder joined 12 other Justice Department officials in supporting the District's gun ban, arguing that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual's right to possess a firearm.
How can a self-proclaimed, pro-gun Republican senator, as Hatch claims to be, support the nomination of anti-gun Eric Holder, when his confirmation will give him tremendous authority to infringe on the rights of gun owners?
I will remember at the ballot box."
-- Blaine Nay, in a letter printed in The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 January 2009.
Date:
From:
To:
Dear :
As one of your constituents, I encourage you to support any legislation that protects and expands the right of decent citizens to own and carry firearms for lawful purposes, and to oppose any legislation that would diminish that right. In particular, I ask you to oppose all bills that could have the effect of elevating a minor offense to felony status. Federal law permanently strips a citizen of his right to possess a firearm if he has any sort of felony record.
When Congress passed this law in 1968, it was aimed at murderers, rapists, robbers, and other truly dangerous criminals who constituted the bulk of convicted felons at the time. Nowadays, however, all sorts of minor non-violent acts can result in a felony conviction, which in turn automatically results in a permanent loss of one’s gun rights.
The Utah Legislature annually considers several well-intentioned bills that would empower prosecutors to bring felony charges against an individual for minor acts that don’t result in injury to anyone. Such legislation could cause decent citizens to permanently lose their Second-Amendment rights. Until the federal gun laws get changed, I will view any such legislation as a form of back-door gun control, and I encourage you to oppose it. Thanks for taking time to consider my views.
Sincerely,
That concludes the GOUtah! Political and Legislative Alert #310 for 25 January 2009. 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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