Anti-gun Land Bill On The Move
-- House Vote Expected This Week
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lost in all the news of the massive bailout bill that just passed the
Senate is another enormous bill, one that increases federal control of
public and private land.
Of particular concern to gun owners is that the bill, S. 22, will
greatly expand the amount of land controlled by the National Park
Service. NPS land is currently subject to a gun ban.
While President Bush took steps in the waning days of his presidency to
reverse the ban, the new regulations apply to persons who carry a
concealed firearm with a permit. Non-permit holders and open carry are
not explicitly addressed.
Another eyebrow-raising aspect of this bill is that it is actually a
compilation of over 150 separate pieces of legislation that never passed
out of Congress on their own merits.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) successfully held up over 100 of these bills,
until anti-gun Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rolled all of the bills
into one so-called Coburn Omnibus and forced it through the Senate in
January on a vote of 73-21.
As the House prepares to take up the bill, the Democrat leadership has
taken procedural steps to ensure that the measure cannot be amended or
altered in any way. That means that if it passes the House, it goes
right to President Obama's desk, where it will be signed into law.
Here are a few of the more troubling aspects of the bill:
* It authorizes the federal government to buy private land adjacent to
national parks and trails. Such land would be controlled by the NPS,
and thus be subject to the gun ban.
* The bill federalizes the Washington-Rochambeau Route, a 650 mile trail
that stretches from Rhode Island to Virginia and includes sections of
major thoroughfares such as Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1, and passes
through cities like Boston and Philadelphia. The entire trail would fall
under the NPS and the gun ban.
* The National Landscape Conservation System groups together millions of
acres of federal land and places it under one new umbrella agency. The
NLCS was created during the Clinton administration and run
administratively since then. S. 22 will codify the system, which raises
concerns for hunters and sportsmen. Much of this land is consolidated
from the BLM and the Forest Service, which have always allowed hunting
and recreational shooting. It is unclear what rules will be promulgated
by the new agency and if gun owners' rights will be protected.
* S. 22 strips out small concessions won by pro-gunners in the House
last year that would allow state and local law to govern firearms
possession and hunting on certain land.
* S.22 allows for NO amendments. Pro-gun members who want to offer an
amendment to fully repeal the NPS gun ban are prevented from doing so by
the anti-gun leadership.
The full House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the bill this
Wednesday or Thursday.
Unless the NPS gun ban is repealed and the rights of gun owners are
protected, Gun Owners of America opposes the bill in its entirety.
ACTION: Please urge your Representative to repeal the NPS gun ban in S.
22, or to vote against the entire bill. You can go to the Gun Owners
Legislative Action Center at take-action to send
your Representative the pre-written e-mail message below.
----- Prewritten Letter -----
Dear Representative:
I urge you to oppose S. 22, a bill that will greatly expand the amount
of land controlled by the National Park Service (NPS).
NPS land is currently subject to a gun ban. While President Bush took
steps in the waning days of his presidency to reverse the ban, the new
regulations apply to persons who carry a concealed firearm with a
permit. Non-permit holders and open carry are not explicitly addressed.
Which is why S. 22 raises so many concerns:
* It authorizes the federal government to buy private land adjacent to
national parks and trails. Such land would be controlled by the NPS,
and thus be subject to the gun ban.
* The bill federalizes the Washington-Rochambeau Route, a 650 mile
trail, and places it under the NPS gun ban.
* S. 22 will codify the National Landscape Conservation System, which
raises concerns for hunters and sportsmen. Much of this land is
consolidated from the BLM and the Forest Service, which have always
allowed hunting and recreational shooting. It is unclear what rules
will be promulgated by the new agency and if gun owners' rights will be
protected.
* S. 22 also strips out small concessions which were won in the House
last year that would allow state and local law to govern firearms
possession and hunting on certain land. But the anti-gun House
leadership is preventing any amendments to fully repeal the NPS gun ban.
If these concerns are not corrected in S. 22, I would strongly urge you
to vote against it.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
