FOAC PA General Election E-Newsletter & Update

[WhiteFeather]

Got this from FOAC - for everyone that VOTED might want to read some of the preliminary results.

NOTE HB 1744


PLEASE read and NOTE FOAC wants gun owners inputs and invitation to attend one of their Open FOAC meetings

SUBJECT: FOAC PA General Election E-Newsletter & Update



November 07, 2007



FOAC Membership Status: Invited to Join

Unofficial early election returns are extremely promising! Of the statewide candidates in races that FOAC is involved in all but one appear to be victorious. In the Supreme Court races Judge Seamus McCaffery was the top vote getter in the state with a very tight race being waged between Debra Todd and Maureen Lally Green. Unfortunately it appears that the revisionist Debra Todd is going to win the election by a very slim margin of less than 2%. In the Superior Court races the two candidates endorsed by FOAC, Jackie Shogan and Cheryl Allen, have both won their respective seats for the Superior Court. In the retention elections for Supreme Court and Superior Court both Tom Saylor and Joan Orie Melvin handily won reelection.



In the County races it appears that fortune has again shown on gun owners in a number of counties with FOAC candidates either winning by a slim majority or surprisingly trumping incumbent candidates. For instance the race for Berks County Sheriff resulted in a narrow victory for FOAC endorsed Eric Weaknecht. In both Butler and Washington counties FOAC candidates won surprising victories over the incumbent district attorney’s with pro-gun candidates, Richard Goldinger and Steve Toprani respectively, winning in both races. These types of returns are coming in from many counties although results will have to be finalized and certified.



Perhaps the most troubling outcome of this election is that participation by citizens has fallen even more to what many observers are reporting a level of only 15% turnout. While this does allow gun owners to increase their impact on elections throughout the Commonwealth it does not bode well for the future of our republic if weather and other mundane issues deter citizens from exercising this franchise and responsibility.


Please keep in mind that if YOU come across any information and/or documented evidence of controversial statements of ANY Judge, Legislator or Candidate for office regarding gun control or our Constitution please forward this information immediately to us. FOAC will examine and deal with each submitted item with the utmost haste.



Again, attached to this message is the November/2007 FOAC e-newsletter. For more important developments and news links that contain up to the minute information on political, election and recent firearms issues please visit our website at www.foac-pac.org. IF you would like FOAC to hold a special meeting in your area to energize local gun owners and would like to organize one please contact us for further details.


Best Regards,



Kim Stolfer, Chairman



FOAC -- 2007 Meeting Schedule

Jan 14, Feb 11, Mar 11, Apr 15, May 6, [Primary Election - May 15th] - June 10, July 8, Aug 12, Sept 9, Oct 14, Nov 4, [General Election - November 6th] Dec 9

Next Meeting: December 9th

Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Whitehall Borough Bldg (off Rt.51)

***********************

For information on Donating to, renewing your membership or becoming a member of FOAC please see the link below:

http://www.foac-pac.org

PA Legislative Battles Over Gun Control Continue (November)

Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League—Legislative Committee



Last month we reported on potential developments with certain bills being advanced that presented moderate gun control concepts to appease certain more radical legislator elements within the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. On October 31 the Pennsylvania Judiciary Committee voted two bills out of committee.



The first bill was House Bill 784 which in it’s original form was unacceptable and as a result of requests put to the prime sponsor of the bill, Representative Scott Petri, Harry Schneider in Kim Stolfer were able to successfully rewrite this legislation with the cooperation of several volunteer attorneys, notably Mike McCormick, to put together a more refined and polish language that will focus the intent of the bill.



The other bill that was passed out of committee was House Bill 1744. As a result of earlier testimony before the Judiciary Committee this Bill was deemed by sportsmen and gun owner representatives as unacceptable in its current form. Our complaints generated a number of amendments that were to supposedly moderate our concerns. Unfortunately the process leading up to this vote did not allow for an open exchange of ideas even though the offer was made with Representative Tom Caltagirone to assist in determining what could be done to improve this legislation and to remove our concerns. In fact several of the amendments were not even available for review until the morning of the committee vote which is an unacceptable situation. One of the amendments amounts to, in my view, a political payoff for support by giving the NRA taxpayer subsidies to establish 'Eddie Eagle' in Pennsylvania school districts. What is worse yet is that this ‘Firearms Education Fund’ does not mandate the use of ‘Eddie Eagle’ by use of the language “such as” to describe the entity doing the training so now we are opening up the entire PA school system to proselytizing at the expense of the PA taxpayers. For instance the Brady group uses a program called ‘Star’ that is 90% political advocacy for kids to lobby legislators to support gun control. This is a stupid, stupid move and the long term consequences could be disastrous.


This legislation is scheduled for a vote next week and we are asking ALL gun owners to notify their legislators to support House Bill 784 and to OPPOSE House Bill 1744. We are going to be asking the statewide gun owner and sportsmen’s groups to join with us in this effort. If you would like copies of the legislation and the votes in the Judiciary Committee please e-mail your request. Also, please forward any comment that your legislator makes on this legislation to us so that we can respond properly. More to come!

WF added NOTE
I believe HB 1744 is scheduled for a house Reps vote on Tuesday Nov 14
read PAFOA post here
http://www.pafoa.org/forum/pennsylva...carefully.html

Federal Legislative Update:

HR 2640 -- NICS Update Bill

The bill which provides for an update of mental health records available to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is being blocked in the Senate by a single lawmaker who says the provisions of the so-called "NICS Im*provement Act" will cost too much and in*terfere with Second Amendment rights.

The bill, which has passed the House on a voice vote, has bipartisan backing and support from both the National Rifle Asso*ciation and the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence. It is designed to improve the federal system for checking gun buyers' mental health history in order to block pur*chases by those diagnosed as mentally ill.

The lawmaker who put the hold on the bill, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), contends that the bill would create "a pathway by which individuals can lose their Second Amendment rights but no pathway through which they can gain them back if they're stable. I believe individual rights should be guaranteed," Coburn said.

Coburn is even more concerned about the cost, which he contends would run to $2 billion over the next several years. Such legislation "is growing the government without decreasing it somewhere else," he said. He is backed by the American Legion, whose leadership said in a statement that the law "could have the unintended con*sequence of denying gun rights to any vet*eran, especially wartime veterans, with*out the benefit of due process." Gun Own*ers of America is also against the bill. The New GUN WEEK, November 15, 2007



Bishop Provision Protects Firearms

The US House of Representatives on Oct. 24 passed by a 344-71 vote an amendment sponsored by Congress*man Rob Bishop (R-UT) that will en*sure there will be no federal infringe*ment of Second Amendment rights on certain public lands.

The provision, which came in the form of the Republican motion to recom*mit on HR-1483, a bill to expand and create certain National Heritage Areas, stipulates that all designated lands within these areas would be exclusively governed by state and local laws regard*ing hunting, fishing, and the possession or use of a weapon, trap, or net. The bill now heads to the US Senate. The New GUN WEEK, November 15, 2007

[WhiteFeather]

This quote really is going to apply to HB 1744

You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Also note the power to administer this so called firearm training program is under direct control of the PA attorney general which now is now occupied by 2nd amendment guy it won’t be always be that way. So keep that in mind when a anti-gun AG person could use this education program in the schools to brain wash your children or grand children that guns are bad - its not that far of a stretch right now in a P.C. world. Maybe a court will decide in a lawsuit that egual time to firearm safety be given to both sides of the issuse - its also really to imagine that happening

So read the HB 1744 legislation and start writting your letters and emails.

[LittleRedToyota]

well, at least there is some good news on the state level...to offset the bad news here in allegheny county.

whitefeather, thanks for keeping us all on our toes about all these political issues. and, though i don't think he reads this forum, thanks also to kim stolfer for all he does on our behalf.

great LBJ quote, btw.