Some are claiming there is no Veterans Disarmament Act!

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

ACTION:

1. Please use the letter at the bottom of this alert to contact your
Senators and to ask them to read the Veterans Disarmament Act for
themselves. But urge them to read the ENTIRE BILL, not just a few
lines here and there. They dare not vote for this bill without having
read the text -- and the underlying law and regulations -- for
themselves! This alert will address some of the most frequently
misunderstood points about the Veterans Disarmament Act and give you
the material you need to set your Senators straight.

2. GOA members will be receiving important mailings in the next several
weeks, asking them to renew their membership for another year. Please
take the time to do this. We need you working with us, because with
your help, we will continue to have a tremendous impact upon
legislation in the Congress. As stated by Sen. David Vitter,
"Gun Owners of America is one of the most effective and important
political organizations in this country.... [They] can mobilize gun
owners from all across America, uniting them into a single powerful
voice that politicians in Washington dare not ignore."

Friday, October 26, 2007

It's either an enormous bald-faced lie, or it's ignorance at its
worst. But then again, whether it's deception or just plain
ignorance... either scenario is found quite commonly on Capitol Hill.

Some senate offices are telling people the Leahy-Schumer bill is only a
bill about "school safety" and not a bill about disarming
veterans.

"This is not a Veterans Disarmament Act," some offices have
told GOA staff. "The bill doesn't say anything about
veterans." And one particular office -- that of Republican
Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah -- is selectively quoting provisions in the
bill to justify his support for the Veterans Disarmament Act.

These arguments have been repeated in different places and at different
times. There is even a military website where a broadcast journalist
makes the same outlandish claim that, "There is no such thing as
the 'Veterans Disarmament Act.'

"But just like journalists shouldn't attempt brain surgery,
neither should they try to understand difficult pieces of legislation
without an intimate knowledge of the federal code and regulations which
are referenced in those bills.

After all, it takes more digging than just doing a word search for the
word "veteran" to understand there are dangers hidden in the
McCarthy-Schumer bill which would ban hundreds of thousands of military
veterans from owning guns. While it's not surprising that a
journalist would fail to do this kind of homework, it is surprising
that congressional offices would use such an amateurish argument to
deflect criticism of a bill.

Of course, the bill doesn't say "Veterans Disarmament Act."
(That's a phrase that was coined by Gun Owners of America.) Does
anyone really think that Schumer & Co. are going to tell us that
their trueintentions are to disarm veterans! Heck no. They call it
a "school safety" bill, when the real goal of their measure
is to disarm gun owners and veterans around the country.

The history of legislation in the 20th Century has taught us that
legislation -- if not carefully crafted -- can be easily twisted and
abused. Remember how the RICO Act, originally enacted to help combat
the Mafia, was later used to crack down on peaceful pro-life
protesters?

And who would have thought, when the original Brady law was passed in
1993, that it would be used to keep people with outstanding traffic
tickets from buying guns... or couples with marriage problems from
buying guns... or military vets with nightmares from buying guns?

Those who want to claim that there is no "Veterans Disarmament
Act" ignore, first of all, that up to 140,000 veterans have
ALREADY BEEN DISARMED by using twisted interpretations of the federal
code! That figure was released on August 1 by Congress' own research
team -- the Congressional Research Service.

Furthermore, the so-called "school safety" bill that Senators
Patrick Leahy and Chuck Schumer are pushing would LEGITIMIZE the very
practice that began with President Clinton, when his administration
began adding military vets onto the NICS roles. (The bill is numbered
H.R. 2640 in the House and S. 2084 in the Senate.)

The Veterans Disarmament Act *Does Change* Federal Law

The fact is, this legislation rubber-stamps regulations that have been
issued by the BATFE over the years. The net result is that Section
203(2) of S. 2084 ends up outlawing guns for millions of people
(including veterans) who are not "currently prohibited" from
owning guns.

You can go to http://www.gunowners.org/ne0713.htm to see in greater
detail how these regulations will drive the implementation of the
Veterans Disarmament Act.

The bottom line is that this bill will ban a person from owning guns
because he or she was merely diagnosed with post-traumatic stress
disorder, Alzheimer's, ADHD or bipolar disorder by a government
psychologist or psychiatrist in the VA, Medicare, or the IDEA
program. This is because the Veterans Disarmament Act will CODIFY
regulations that BATFE has issued. (Again, see the URL above formore
details.)

False Attempts At Defending The Veterans Gun Ban

Nevertheless, those who merely do word searches for "veteran"
-- and thus conclude a bill has nothing to say about veterans -- try to
defend what the Clinton administration did. Take Senator Hatch. He
says, the Veterans Disarmament Act specifically excludes "any
finding of mental illness that consists only of a medical diagnoses
[sic]from being included in the NICS."

What Hatch is doing is quoting (or referencing) half a sentence in the
bill to make the supposed argument that veterans who are only suffering
from PTSD will not fall prey to the gun ban, since they are only
subject to a "medical finding of disability."

This is a partial quote from Section 211(c)(1)(C) of S. 2084, which is
duplicated in the House bill. But to say this -- that people can't
lose their gun rights based solely on a "medical finding of
disability" -- is to engage in an outright fraud... because the
rest of the sentence in the bill says that they can be added into the
NICS system if they represent a miniscule danger to themselves or
others or are unable to handle their own affairs.

The legislation states that a person can't lose their gun rights
"based solely on a medical finding of disability, WITHOUT A
FINDING THAT THE PERSON IS A DANGER TO HIMSELF OR TO OTHERS."
(Emphasis added.) You see that? What little freedom is protected
with the one hand, is destroyed with the other. What government
shrink isn't going to say that a person suffering from PTSD is a
potential danger-- even a teensy, weensy danger -- to himself or
others?

A BATFE letter from May 9 of this year indicates that this danger does
not have to be a substantial threat; it can be just a MINISCULE
danger. (This letter can be read on the GOA website at the URL
below.)Yes, this gets slightly technical. But it helps to actually
read entire sentences in the bill, rather than to selectively quote a
passage here or there; and it especially helps to read the underlying
federal code and regulations.

That's why Gun Owners of America has posted the entire bill -- and a
scholarly point-by-point analysis of the Veterans Disarmament Act -- on
its website. By going to http://www.gunowners.org/netb.htm and
reading this information for yourself, you can stay informed on the
very real threat posed by this legislation.

When you read through this section, you will understand why the
American Legion and the Military Order Of The Purple Heart have both
opposed this bill. You will also see the PDF copies of their two
letters of opposition, and see Sen. Tom Coburn's letter which GOA
reported on last week. Sen. Coburn sent his letter to Veterans
Affairs and asked them to explain how they plan to prevent even more
veterans from being disarmed without due process.

Earlier this week, USA Today stated that veterans are seeking mental
health treatment in increasing numbers... by an almost 70% jump in a
recent 12-month period. Can you see why Senator Chuck Schumer and
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy want this legislation so bad? Hundreds of
thousands of veterans are going to be unknowingly sucked into the gun
control dragnet.

This is outrageous and is why your Senators need to keep hearing from
you on this issue.

Contact Information:

You can use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by
visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers
are also available).

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

I find it outrageous that there are offices on Capitol Hill with the
audacity to claim that S. 2084 -- a bill introduced by committed
anti-gun activists like Patrick Leahy and Chuck Schumer -- will neither
affect veterans nor deny them their constitutional rights.

The truth is, S. 2084 -- and its House counterpart, H.R. 2640 -- may
claim to deal with "school safety," but its real aim is to
take away people's gun rights. And those who have served in the
military will be especially affected.

The Veterans Disarmament Act -- let's call it what it really is -- will
result in the disarmament of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of
veterans who risked life and limb in defense of our nation. Already,
the Congressional Research Service has reported that up to 140,000
veterans have had their names placed into the NICS system, and these
are men and women who have NOT been convicted of any crimes whatsoever!

It's no wonder that the American Legion and the Military Order of the
Purple Heart have opposed this legislation. This legislation CHANGES
statutory law so that a single shrink (a government psychiatrist,
psychologist, or social worker) can deny any person -- yes, even a
military veteran -- their Second Amendment rights.

If you think this bill has nothing to do with veterans -- or that this
bill does not change federal law -- then please do me a favor. Read the
ENTIRE BILL, not just a few lines here and there. And after you've
read the bill, please look at the underlying law and regulations which
are referenced in the bill.

Gun Owners of America has devoted a special section on its website at
http://www.gunowners.org/netb.htm so that people can easily do this.
This section also allows you to read the entire bill and get a
scholarly point-by-point analysis of the Veterans Disarmament Act.

I am still waiting for you to join the hold on this legislation that
was placed by Sen. Tom Coburn. What is taking you so long?

Sincerely,

****************************
New T-shirts Now Available

Would you like a dollar for every time you have heard the anti-gunners'
mantra: "Guns don't kill people, people with guns kill
people?"

Well, now you can sport a T-Shirt that turns that back on them! Over
the image of a very in your face barrel of a pistol is this message:
"People don't stop killers... people with guns do."

The shirts have the above message on the back and a GOA logo located
on the front where a pocket would otherwise be.

Available online at http://www.gunowners.org/merchandise.htm for
$15.50 plus shipping and handling.

****************************
Please do not reply directly to this message, as your reply will bounce
back as undeliverable.

To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail address
may also be made at that location.