NRA-ILA FAX ALERT 11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA 22030 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 * GROOTS@NRA.org Vol. 4, No. 27 7/3/97 AND THE TALL TALES GET TALLER Hoping that going on the offensive will provide him with a good defense, President Clinton has elevated the falsehoods surrounding the Brady Act to new heights. Obviously anticipating that the Supreme Court would strike down the "mandated background check" provision of the Brady Act, the President, along with Sarah Brady, began touting their latest statistics on the Brady Act's "success." Previously, the President, Attorney General Janet Reno, and others used the inflated figure of 186,000 to note the number of felons, fugitives, and stalkers they claimed were prevented from buying a handgun under Brady. That 186,000 figure was derived from a February 1997 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report that concluded that of nine million handgun transactions nationwide, 186,000 (2%) were rejected. The President, in turn, incorrectly claimed that the BJS study showed that the Brady Act had resulted in 186,000 handgun purchase attempts being denied. However, the BJS stated on the front page of its report the 186,000 was a national estimate. Recognizing that 18 states and the District of Columbia have never been subject to Brady's five-day waiting period, BJS noted only 86,000 denials occurred in the 32 "original Brady states." Even that figure is inflated, however, because 12 of those 32 states are no longer subject to Brady, having adopted Instant Check or other laws in the past three years. Additionally, many Brady-exempt states conduct records checks on people who purchase long guns, while Brady only applies to handguns. Last week, however, Mr. Clinton upped the ante when he unveiled his newest "success statistic." According to the President, apparently in the course of a few months, the number of felons denied handgun purchases under Brady miraculously skyrocketed to 250,000! Even if that claim was true, "handgun purchase denials" is not the standard by which the Brady Act should be judged. Rather, the effectiveness of a law titled the "Handgun Violence Prevention Act" should be measured on how much handgun violence is prevented. And on that test, Brady is a failure, as we know our prisons aren't bursting at the seams from "felons" who violated federal law by attempting to purchase a handgun. In fact, there have still been only three individuals who've seen the inside of a prison cell under the Brady Act. Unfortunately, in addition to the numerous individuals who've been denied a handgun purchase under the Brady Act because they had unpaid parking tickets or had the same name as a prohibited person, the truth apparently will continue to be another casualty of the Brady Act. NATIONAL RIGHT TO CARRY RECIPROCITY PICKING UP CO-SPONSORS H.R. 339, the "Right to Safety and Personal Protection Act," is steadily picking up co-sponsors. In a past FAX Alert (Vol. 4, No. 20), we reported that this pro-gun bill had 45 co-sponsors. However, thanks to your calling your U.S. Representatives, we've added six new co-sponsors to the bill, bringing the total up to 51! It is our strong contention that the more co-sponsors H.R. 339 gets, the sooner we can expect the House to take action on this pro-gun bill. Please continue to call your U.S. Representative at 202/225-3121, and encourage him to sign on as a co-sponsor to H.R. 339. If he's already done so, thank him, and urge him to lobby his colleagues to do the same. Also, please keep calling your U.S. Senators in support of S. 816 -- the Senate national right to carry reciprocity bill. For a current list of House co-sponsors of H.R. 339, please call the NRA-ILA Grassroots Division at 1-800-392-8683. A LOOK AT THE STATES HAWAII: Gov. Cayetano signed into law HB 233, the NRA-supported handgun hunting bill, that allows hunters to use handguns while engaged in hunting game animals (subject to rules to be developed by the Department of Land & Natural Resources), and to transport handguns in an enclosed container while traveling to the place of the hunt. LOUISIANA: SB 694, the NRA-backed shooting range protection bill, has passed both houses of the Legislature, and is awaiting Gov. Foster's expected signature. SB 694 will protect shooting range facilities against certain noise ordinances or nuisance actions aimed at shutting them down. MARYLAND: On July 2, the Prince George's and Montgomery County Councils passed bills that require licensed firearms dealers to provide a trigger lock for ALL firearms transferred within their respective counties. Montgomery County also passed legislation that creates "gun free zones" within the county. The law prohibits the sale, transfer, manufacture, or repair of ALL firearms and ammunition within 100 yards of a place of public assembly. (Defined as a park, place of worship, elementary or secondary school, public library, or government owned or operated recreational facility. It also includes all property associated with the place, such as parking lots or surrounding grounds of a building.) NRA is currently analyzing the legislation and its relation to state law and to law-abiding gun owners. MASSACHUSETTS: On June 25th, the Committee on Criminal Justice voted to give S.148, the so called "assault weapons" ban, an ought-not-to-pass report. In simple terms, the Committee recommended that the full Senate not pass S. 148, which in addition to the assault weapons" ban, included three other gun ban bills. In order to kill the bill and its attachments the full Senate must accept the committee's report. Please contact your State Senator and urge them to accept the Committee of Criminal Justice's recommendation that S.148 ought-not-to-pass. Also, please encourage your State Senator not to support any other gun ban versions. A special note of thanks to Mike Yacino and his staff at Mass. G.O.A.L. for putting forth a tremendous effort in providing information to the Committee and convincing them that gun bans are ineffective. NORTH CAROLINA: Gov. Hunt signed into law HB 958, that included a ban on the posting of signs at state rest areas signs prohibiting the carrying of concealed firearms by citizens possessing valid concealed carry permits. Please call both Gov. Hunt at 919/733- 5811 and the amendment sponsor Sen. Mark McDaniel (R-20) at 919/733-5620 and thank them for their support of this important public safety change. VIRGINIA: On Monday, July 7, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will meet once again to decide whether to require all concealed handgun permit (new and renewal) applicants to be fingerprinted. In late June, the Board met, and thanks to strong opposition by gun owners who were present, deferred action. Please call the Board of Supervisors today and leave a message asking them to vote "NO" on the mandatory fingerprint requirement. Although this meeting is not open to public testimony, gun owners and sportsmen are still encouraged to attend to show their opposition. The meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, in Fairfax. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend! =+=+=+=+ This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA. This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org