Huge Power Grab Underway in Washington

[bogey1]

Huge Power Grab Underway in Washington
-- Democrats looking to get almost ten, brand new anti-gunners in Congress

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Democrat-controlled Congress and the White House are pulling out all the stops to offset the oncoming tidal wave that is threatening to throw them out of power this November.

With their polls sagging badly, the liberal Democrats rammed through a Puerto Rican statehood resolution yesterday which many consider the first step towards making Puerto Rico the 51st state -- a move that would give liberal progressives in the Congress six more Representatives and two new Senators.

Making Puerto Rico a state would bring another gun control bastion into our nation and bring almost ten anti-gun congressmen and senators into the Congress.

This is disgraceful! With her party's polls plummeting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to get as many additional progressives into Congress as possible so that she can continue advancing her liberal, anti-American agenda.

Regarding the statehood resolution, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) says it "is the Puerto Rico statehood bill which is being pushed by the new progressive party in Puerto Rico trying to create a federally [sanctioned] vote that they say is nonbinding but would give them the legitimacy to then come back and try to seat people in the United States Congress."

To see how your congressman voted on the Puerto Rican statehood resolution, go to:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll242.xml

GOA will keep you updated as to when a vote is scheduled in the U.S. Senate.


GOA helps kill Pelosi's attempt to give DC a vote in Congress

Not to be satisfied with merely eight new liberal votes from Puerto Rico, liberal Democrats want to give statehood to Washington, DC. S. 160 would take a major step in that direction by giving this federal enclave a vote in the House of Representatives.

The bill is the DC Voting Rights Act, otherwise known as the DC Vote Grab Act. It would make Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton a legitimate voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

If you know anything about Del. Norton, you know that she is one of the most liberal, anti-gun legislators in the country -- one who completely supports Nancy Pelosi's agenda. Of course, Democrats are not just going to settle for a mere Representative in Congress... they want statehood for the District of Columbia in order to get two anti-gun Senators, as well.

It seems that the Obama-Reid-Pelosi strategy is to continue screwing the country -- even if it hurts them in the polls -- because then they will work to get as many "new" votes as possible through Puerto Rican statehood... DC statehood... and even things like amnesty for illegal aliens.

But if Pelosi were to succeed in making DC a state, there will be two more liberal votes in the Senate -- a situation that would allow them to break any Republican filibuster that would stymie their anti-gun agenda.

The Senate passed S. 160 last year, and if it were not for Gun Owners of America and Senator John Ensign, it would have been signed into law last spring.

Pro-gun Senator John Ensign and Gun Owners of America worked together to attach an amendment to the DC Vote Grab Act. The amendment would repeal all the restrictive gun control laws still on the books in DC after the landmark D.C. v. Heller Supreme Court decision. The vote margin was an amazing 62-36 in the Senate!

Wiping out DC's still very restrictive anti-gun laws was not what Speaker Pelosi and other rabid anti-Second Amendment members of the House wanted to see.

Because of this GOA-supported amendment, the House has been unable to take any action on the Senate measure. While Speaker Pelosi has no desire to see a pro-gun provision within the DC bill, many House members are afraid to vote for any such bill that doesn't contain the pro-gun Ensign amendment. In short, this has been a real Mexican standoff that has lasted for nearly a year.

In fact, when Pelosi tried to bring up the bill last week, she could not muster enough votes to secure passage. S. 160 might now be dead for the year, but GOA will continue watching this and alert you to any attempts to bring up the bill again.


Senate "disses" America's veterans

For several years, GOA has been alerting gun owners to the travesty of justice that has been perpetrated on our veterans.

After the Brady law went into effect, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began sending the names of many of its beneficiaries to the FBI so they could be added to the NICS list, denying these individuals their right to purchase a firearm. To date, more than 150,000 military veterans have been denied.

However, none of these veterans were ever convicted of a crime; none were found to be a danger to anyone; and none were afforded any meaningful due process of law. Under the semblance of being "mental defectives," these veterans were added to the list strictly because a doctor or a bureaucrat in the VA appointed someone to manage their finances.

The al-Qaeda terrorists in Guantanamo have been given more due process than the American soldiers who fought them!

To combat this outrage, pro-gun Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) authored S. 669, the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, that will safeguard for veterans two of the most fundamental Constitutional rights enjoyed by Americans: due process of law and the right to keep and bear arms.

The Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act merely stipulates that a veteran cannot lose his or her gun rights "without the order or finding of a judge, magistrate, or other judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that such person is a danger to himself or herself or others."

This very reasonable bill passed out of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last June, having been approved unanimously.

Burr's language was offered on the floor of the Senate during the health care debate, but unfortunately, it was defeated 53-45. To see how your Senator voted, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/2ufvgu4

GOA will continue fighting for the passage of this very important legislation.


Where we are at

As you know, elections have consequences. GOA is fighting in the trenches to protect/regain our rights. And, thankfully, we have won a couple of major battles at the federal level -- like securing the ability to transport firearms on Amtrak trains and carry loaded guns in National Parks.

In the states, GOA has been successfully pushing Firearms Freedom Acts around the country -- laws which allow guns that are made in their home states, and stay in those states, to be free of federal regulation. (Currently, there are seven states that have enacted such laws; several others are still in the process.)

GOA also worked in Arizona to pass a new Alaska-style carry law which allows citizens to carry concealed firearms without first getting permission from the government.

We have also lost some battles, as would be expected in a climate that is overwhelmingly controlled by liberals in Washington.

So we need your help. We can win the battles that are facing us, but only if we each give our maximum effort. Thank you for your continued support for our work. Even if you can only a give a couple of dollars, every little bit counts.

To make a contribution to Gun Owners of America, please visit: http://gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm



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Larry Pratt recently appeared on MSNBC's Hardball, hosted by Chris Matthews. The interview was, well, interesting to say the least. Just click on the top video at http://gunowners.org.


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[ByAnyMeans]

Quite disturbing. While this is a non-binding resolution the organization that pushed for it is also trying to reword the text of the next vote in P.R.. If the people of P.R. vote to become a state which they have always rejected when the text was worded differently then they plan on using "the Tennesse" plan. Quite troubling.

[thefirstndsecond]

While I have no problem with anyone wanting to become part of the USA, I do see an issue with one political party trying to do this to push their political agenda.


It really is terrible how we, as second amendment supporters, have to face such issues.

Also, while I have not read this anywhere, what is the unemployment rate and welfare rate in Puerto Rico?

I had heard these are high and thus the Obama Administration is pulling back the vote bill in DC to try this with Puerto Rico to gain more voters.

[PocketProtector]

The Ones only motivation is the Progressives insatiable thirst for power.

[mrnyman]

Thats alright, they'll just move to Israel after November.

[thefirstndsecond]

Thats alright, they'll just move to Israel after November.

I do not understand this quote.

Could you explain?

[Phillygunguy]

I Pray to GOD for a miracle cause thats what its gonna take to get rid of the libs in congress. OUR Founding Fathers believed in GOD and that our rights come from HIM. IF good is to triumph over evil then God will see to it that the tables turn in November and a miracle that Obama is Impeached and all these liberals are tried for treason, I know fat chance but its the only HOPE I have for OBama

[BSH]

That's a bunch of political BS. The vote on Puerto Rico allows PR to conduct a plebiscite. IF PR votes for statehood (no guarantee they will), THEN they can APPLY for statehood. If the whole process were rushed through as quickly as possible, it MIGHT get to that point in a year. Then again, if I recall correctly, last time PR held a non-binding referendum, it was a three-way split between statehood, independence, and the status quo. I might be mistaken.

The DC statehood thing won't happen. Everybody knows it. Giving the DC delegate voting rights on the House floor is a far cry from statehood and Senate representation. There is virtually no chance of this coming to pass, in this Congress or any other.

It is a nice piece of fear-mongering, though, I'll give it that.

[Ten*K]

and there's no way they'd vote for statehood because of taxation.

[tsafa]

Great post! I did not know any of this with regard to P.R. and D.C. I doubt they could actually "rush" statehood through in any short period of time... but I can see this as a long term strategy.