NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 20, No. 14 04/05/2013

Senate to Take Up Anti-Gun Legislation Soon!

The U.S. Senate has announced that anti-gun legislation will be heard on the floor next week. While that could change at any time, right now it means that your Second Amendment freedoms are on the chopping block, and you need to take immediate action to save them.

Senators are scheduled to vote on a so-called "universal background check" bill being pushed by lifelong anti-gun zealot, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y). Schumer's bill--S. 374, the "Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013"-- would criminalize virtually all private firearm sales, even temporary transfers, making you a criminal if you simply transfer a firearm to an aunt, uncle, cousin or lifelong friend without the federal government's approval. Even worse, President Barack Obama's Justice Department says that Schumer's bill will only be effective if it's coupled with mandatory gun registration.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) gun and magazine ban legislation (S. 150) will not be a part of the Senate's base gun control bill, but the Senate previously announced that Feinstein will be allowed to offer her legislation as an amendment.

UN General Assembly Passes Arms Trade Treaty, Senate Rebuffs

On April 2, the United Nations General Assembly voted 153-4 to pass the Arms Trade Treaty, with the United States voting in favor and several countries abstaining. The vote in the General Assembly was necessary to push the treaty process forward after negotiations twice failed to deliver on the goal of developing the treaty by unanimous consent. The Obama Administration is expected to sign the treaty soon after it is opened for signature June 3.

The text of the approved treaty is deeply problematic and threatens the rights and privacy of American gun owners. Signatories are encouraged to keep information on the "end users" of arms imported into their territory and supply such information to the exporting country. Exporting nations, nearly all of which have civilian firearm control regimes far harsher than the U.S., are encouraged to take the firearm control laws of an importing country into account before approving a transfer of arms. The treaty also encourages states to adopt domestic legislation to facilitate the treaty's onerous requirements.

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Diana DeGette: Ignorant of Guns and Disrespectful of Gun Owners' Lives

Longtime anti-gun U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) is drawing flak for comments she made on Tuesday during a Denver Post forum on gun control, and deservedly so.

Since 1997, DeGette has been introducing legislation in Congress to ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Her current bill to that effect is H.R. 138, the "Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act," which she and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) introduced on January 3rd.

But at 31:30 in the video of the Denver event, DeGette proved that after all these years, she still doesn't know a box magazine from a box of breath mints. This is what she said: "What is the efficacy of banning these magazine clips? I will tell you. These are ammunition, they're bullets, so the people who have those now, they're going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available."

Obama Claims AR-15 is a "Fully Automatic" Rifle

It has been widely reported that the killer in the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last year was a semi-automatic AR-15 stolen from its rightful owner. In fact, it was for precisely that reason that President Obama said that gun control will be a "central issue" of his last four years in office.

But on Thursday, reports began circulating that at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, Obama claimed that the AR-15 used in the Connecticut crime was a fully-automatic firearm. At first, we wondered if the reports were accurate, or whether the president might have had a slip of the tongue.

31 Major Hunting and Wildlife Organizations Representing Tens of Millions of Americans Oppose Universal Background Checks

The NRA, along with 30 other prominent hunting and wildlife preservation organizations that represent tens of millions of Americans, sent a letter to the leadership in the United States Senate. This letter lays out a five-point plan to make our communities safer. The organizations strongly oppose unnecessary restrictions which would not reduce crime or prevent tragedy, such as universal background checks.

ACLU Sees Problems in Schumer "Universal" Background Check Proposal

Gun owners know that any effort to require "universal" background checks is just a step toward registration. Now, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union has added his voice to the chorus warning about the impact of the Schumer background check legislation (S. 374, which is the language included in the gun control package that will be debated next week).

The story quotes the ACLU's Chris Calabrese as stating that the proposal "treats the records for private purchases very differently than purchases made through licensed sellers."

Show Your Neighbors you'll "Stand and Fight!"

NRA-ILA has been offering three yard signs for sale featuring our “Don't Tread on my Gun Rights”, “Vote Freedom First” and “I’m the NRA & I Vote” slogans. Sales of these signs have greatly aided our efforts to raise gun owner awareness, and to raise the funds we need to accomplish our goals this year.

Due to the popularity of these three signs, NRA-ILA has designed a fourth sign that is now available! Our newest yard sign highlights our newest slogan: “I Will Stand and Fight with NRA”. Made of the same high quality materials, the new “I Will Stand and Fight with NRA” sign is bold, durable, and easy to assemble. Everything needed to assemble the sign is contained in one compact package, and all components are made in the USA.

Everything Is Bigger In Texas- Including the NRA Annual Meeting Grassroots Workshop!

At no time in recent history has it been more important for NRA members and Second Amendment supporters to be effective activists in our campaign to protect and preserve our Second Amendment rights. Our freedom is under attack like never before, on multiple fronts!

As such, your attendance at this year's FREE NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop in Houston is a critical step toward ensuring the future of our gun rights. This Workshop has been a staple of NRA’s Annual Meetings for decades, and is one of the most popular seminars of the week, attended by hundreds of freedom-loving NRA members.

Attend the NRA Annual Meetings Firearms Law Seminar in Houston!

The 16th Annual Firearms Law Seminar will be held on Friday, May 3,, 2013, as part of NRA's Annual Meetings.

The gold standard in firearms CLE classes, this day-long seminar provides legal instruction for practicing attorneys who represent firearms owners and licensed dealers, attorneys wishing to expand their practice to such clients, and others having an interest in Second Amendment law.

Effectively Targeting Your Grassroots Activism

In recent weeks, NRA-ILA has been inundated with phone calls and emails from passionate supporters voicing their appreciation for our stalwart defense of the Second Amendment and passing along many productive observations and recommendations. Among them have been precisely the key points NRA has been making; namely that we need to steer Congress's efforts away from gun control and gun bans toward a more productive discussion on things like enhancing school security; improving our nation's mental health system; examining the consequences of a grotesque level of violence our children are exposed to by Hollywood and our pop culture, and enforcement of existing laws against criminals.