Fm: Paul Gallant/NY [70274,1222]

To: SFFO\Charlie Parrott\FL [72350,70]

Below are the current letters mail-merged by LAGR and LAGO. The first one is a repeat of an earlier one, urging support for HR-1009 by Rep. Chenoweth. HR-1009 is the ONLY bill which would repeal the Lautenberg Amendment in its entirety.

No reps from NY, PA, or NJ have yet signed on. [There are 34 co-sponsors, to date. I have the list, compiled by GOA, if anyone needs more detailed info.]

Info from GOA on HR-2721 and HR-2722 is included below.

Letters to LAGR's database members went out in Monday's mail. LAGO's letters go out tomorrow. If you are not part of either group, please recycle the letters, making appropriate changes.

- PAUL > Committee for Law-Abiding Gun-Owners, Rockland [LAGR]

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November 14, 1997

Hon. John Goodrep

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Goodrep:

I was deeply disappointed to learn that you have not yet added your name to the list of co-sponsors of H.R. 1009, despite my earlier communication to you on the matter. H.R. 1009 was introduced by one of your own colleagues, Rep. Helen Chenoweth, and would repeal the contemptible Lautenberg Amendment.

The Lautenberg Amendment poses a grave threat to the liberties which Americans enjoy. As a result of it, decent Americans will be stripped of a Constitutionally-guaranteed right, forever, as punishment for the commission of a misdemeanor, and for offenses as slight as grabbing a spouse, or spanking a child. The Lautenberg's retroactive provisions will disarm honest Americans, all the while denying them the right to a trial by jury - a cornerstone of our system of jurisprudence.

Even America's street cops oppose the Lautenberg Amendment. Here's what James Fotis, Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, had to say:

" What the Lautenberg Amendment does not do is to disarm dangerously violence domestic assailants. What it does do is...it undercuts community trust in law enforcement....No one should lose a sacred, constitutionally-guaranteed right because of a misdemeanor offense...The Lautenberg Amendment is an abomination of a federal law. We want this absurd law repealed - on behalf of all Americans."

As a member of your voting constituency, I urge you to reconsider your decision, and to stand up and be counted in support of H.R. 1009. No measure short of a full repeal of the Lautenberg Amendment is acceptable!

I await the courtesy of your response on this urgent matter.

Respectfully yours,

JOHN Q. PUBLIC 2 Maple Street Anytown, NY 10000

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Flurry of Bills introduced as Congress Nears Recess
Call 1-800-522-6721 to contact your Congressmen
by Gun Owners of America

8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151, (703)321-8585, fax: 321-8408, http://www.gunowners.org

(Friday, November 7, 1997)

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduces two more pro-gun bills.

H.R. 2721, "The Second Amendment Protection Act of 1997," will repeal the Brady waiting period and the instant registration check. Rep. Paul's bill will also amend the 1968 Gun Control Act of 1968 by deleting the "sporting purposes" test, which allows the Secretary of Treasury to regulate away "non sporting" firearms.

H.R. 2722 is a national reciprocity bill for the right of concealed carry. This bill does not establish a ~National Standard~ for carrying concealed firearms -- as does the other reciprocity bill (H.R. 339) introduced by Rep. Stearns. Such a notion could, down the line, lead to the federal governments dictating to the states how they should treat concealed carry for their own citizens. H.R. 2722 simply applies the Constitutional Full Faith and Credit section (Article IV) to the carrying of concealed firearms. Also, unlike H.R. 339, this bill DOES NOT require one to have a carry permit to enjoy reciprocity in another state! Rep. Paul~s bill is Vermont-style friendly so that a citizen from any state which recognizes the RIGHT of citizens to carry -- without permits, fingerprints, taxes, fees, etc. -- can travel to another state and enjoy that same right of self-defense.

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November 13, 1997

Hon. John Goodrep U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Goodrep:

Nowadays, "getting tough on crime" usually means trashing the rights of honest gun-owning Americans. Yet, as all legitimate scientific and criminological research on firearms and violence in America shows, when armed, law-abiding citizens have ready access to firearms, violent crime DROPS!

In 1995, Dr. Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz released the results of their research, and found 2.5 million or more instances of firearms used for self-defense, yearly. Dr. Kleck commented:

"Since as many as 400,000 people a year use guns in

situations where the defenders claim that they 'almost

certainly' saved a life by doing so, this result cannot be

dismissed as trivial. If even one-tenth of these people are

accurate in their stated perceptions, the number of lives

saved by [would-be] victim use of guns would still exceed

the total number of lives taken with guns."

Further testimony about lives saved with a firearm came earlier this year from the University of Chicago. In a 15-year study, using data from all 3,054 counties across America, Dr. John Lott and David Mustard summed up their findings:

"...if you're interested in reducing murder and rape, then

letting law-abiding, mentally competent citizens carry

concealed weapons has a positive impact.....The net effect

of allowing concealed handguns is clearly to save lives."

In short, when good people are armed instead of just the bad, Americans are safer. Firearm-restrictive legislation from the anti-self-defense lobby - like the Lautenberg Amendment - only serves to make that equation one-sided.

I urge you to give your support to HR-2721 and HR-2722, two new bills which will help restore the equation for a safer America.

Respectfully yours,

JOHN Q. PUBLIC
2 Maple Street
Anytown, NY 10000

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