Joaquin Jackson, the enemy within

This pompous elitist jackass is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association. He needs to be removed ASAP. He clearly doesn't have a clue about the 2d Amendment.

The NRA should have canned this moron. He sure as hell doesn't represent me. This is an outrage.

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Abuse of Veterans' Rights

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

Thursday, October 18, 2007


Senator Tom Coburn isn't going to go away quietly. As you know from previous GOA alerts, the Republican Senator from Oklahoma has placed a hold on the noxious legislation that is being pushed by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.

Because of his actions, the Veterans Disarmament Act (HR 2640 and S2084) has been stalled in the Senate for a few weeks. But not content to remain silent, Sen. Coburn sent a pointed letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs, asking them to justify their actions.

Coburn states in his letter that the Veterans Affairs continues to send the names of "approximately 1,000 additional veterans" to the Department of Justice every month. According to the Congressional Research Service, Coburn says, this has resulted in "approximately 140,000 Veterans" being added into the NICS background check system.

"This situation is concerning to me," he continues, "as the vast majority of these veterans have committed no crime." Coburn correctly notes that if these veterans should continue to own a firearm, they could "unknowingly be in violation" of federal law.

Interestingly, Coburn notes that the VA gun ban for veterans is not based on their being a "danger to him/herself or others" but rather that they supposedly can't manage their own financial affairs.

Coburn ends his letter with a very pointed request: "I respectfully request that you share with me your plans to prevent the release of more veterans' names without due process."

That's the key: these brave souls are being denied their gun rights WITHOUT DUE PROCESS. Some have claimed that this bill would provide relief for those who are being unjustly denied. Of course, this is very questionable since Congress has, since 1993, defunded the ability of the BATFE to restore the rights of veterans and other victims of gun control. (This is the result of a Chuck Schumer amendment.)

Certainly, GOA would support avenues to provide relief. But the Veterans Disarmament Act is not the vehicle to do this, since the bill actually CHANGES federal law to LEGALLY BAN those 140,000 veterans from owning firearms. (1) Once the bill is enacted and those veterans and other Americans are LEGALLY DISARMED, the bill
then provides some limited avenues for pursuing relief -- although Americans will face an uphill battle as they will have to spend tens of thousands of dollars pressing their case in court where THEY WILL HAVE THE BURDEN of proving their innocence.

Even if these expensive court battles prove s uccessful, they are still not guaranteed to get their gun rights back. Sen. Schumer can simply offer another amendment which prevents the FBI from removing names from the NICS system, just as his 1993 amendment still defunds the ability of the federal government to grant relief TO THIS DAY.


Sarah Brady Is Lobbying Hard For The McCarthy-Schumer Bill

It's no wonder that the Brady Bunch is plugging so hard for this bill. Several news agencies have stated that passage of this bill would represent the "first major gun control law in more than a decade". (2)

Sarah Brady wants this bill bad. Her organization led a bunch of Virginia Tech survivors to Chuck Schumer's office this week to get media attention in favor of the Veterans Disarmament Act.

And she sent out an e-mail last week urging members to donate to her organization, thus helping to get the McCarthy-Schumer bill passed. "In July, the U.S. House of Representatives took a courageous first step to keep guns out of the wrong hands by passing HR 2640, the NICS Improvement Act," Brady said. "The Brady Campaign is working full force to convince the U.S. Senate to pass this bill immediately."

Those who would disarm us are working hard to diminish your rights.
Have you written your Senators recently?


Footnotes:

(1) See GOA's extensive write-up on the Veterans Disarmament Act. By going to http://www.gunowners.org/netb.htm on the GOA website, one can read an analysis of the bill, plus see what others are saying about it as well.
(2) "NRA, Democrats Team Up To Pass Gun Bill", CBSNews.com, June 13,
2007; and "House Tempers Background Checks for Guns," Associated Press, June 14, 2007.


ACTION: Please use the letter below to contact your Senators and urge them to join Sen. Coburn in putting a hold on the Veterans Disarmament Act. 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 urge you to OPPOSE the efforts of the Brady Campaign. This organization, led by Sarah Brady, is PLUGGING HARD for the Veterans Disarmament Act which has been opposed by the American Legion and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Have you told Senator Tom Coburn yet that you will join him in putting a hold on this legislation (HR 2640 and S 2084) which is being actively pushed by one of the most anti-Second Amendment legislators in the entire Congress -- Senator Chuck Schumer?

If you have not yet added your name and placed a hold on this noxious
bill, please tell me why.

Also, Senator Coburn has authored a letter (addressed to the Veteran Affairs) which asks them to justify why they have determined more than 140,000 veterans ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO OWN A GUN!

These veterans have been denied WITHOUT DUE PROCESS and even without a determination that they are a danger to society. They have been denied simply because they supposedly lack the ability to "manage [their] own financial affairs."

Please let me know when you have joined the Coburn "hold" on the Veterans Disarmament Act. Thank you.

Sincerely,

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An Open Letter To The Pro-gun Community

Gun Owners of America

8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102

Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585

Thursday, October 4, 2007

It may be a cliche, but it is true: This letter is written not in anger, but in sorrow and concern. It is written to our friends about NRA staff who, tragically, have taken a course which, we believe, would be disastrous for the Second Amendment and the pro-gun movement.

Two of us are Life Members of the NRA -- one of whom was an NRA board member for over ten years. And our legislative counsel was a paid consultant for the NRA.

So we certainly have no animus against the NRA staff, much less our wonderful friends who are NRA members.

In fact, over the last thirty years, GOA and its staff have worked with NRA to facilitate most of our pro-gun victories -- from McClure-Volkmer to the death of post-Columbine gun control to a gun liability bill free of anti-gun "killer amendments."

But those who staff the NRA, without consulting the membership, have now made a series of strange and dangerous alliances with the likes of Chuck Schumer, Carolyn McCarthy, and Pat Leahy. And we believe that, if allowed to continue, this will produce anti-gun policies which the NRA staff will bitterly regret.

Christ said, in the Sermon on the Mount, that "by their fruits, ye shall know them." And, frankly, these fruits are not likely to produce much pro-gun legislation.

Substantively, the Leahy/McCarthy/Schumer bill, which NRA's staff has vigorously supported without consulting with its membership, would rubber-stamp the illegal and non-statutory BATFE regulations which have already been used to strip gun rights from 110,000 veterans. It would also allow an anti-gun administration to turn over Americans' most private medical records to the federal instant check system without a court order.

But perhaps even worse, the bill was hatched in secret, without hearings or testimony, and passed out of the House without even a roll call. And now, the sponsors are trying to do the same thing in the Senate -- in an effort to ram the bill through without votes or floor debate, led by anti-gun Senator Chuck Schumer. If it is good legislation, as its proponents claim, why such fears of a roll call vote or debate in committee?

Indeed, in the face of horrific dissent from the NRA's own membership, its staff has tragically ignored arguments and dug in its heels -- in an almost "because-we-say-so" attitude.
Understand this:

* Passage of McCarthy/Leahy/Schumer will not quell the calls for gun control. To the contrary, it will embolden our enemies to push for the abolition of even more of our Second Amendment rights. Already, the Brady Campaign has indicated its intent to follow up this "victory" with a push for an effective ban on gun shows.

* Passage of McCarthy/Leahy/Schumer will not be viewed as an "NRA victory." To the contrary, once the liberal media has used the NRA staff for its purposes, it will throw them away like a used Kleenex. Already, an over-confident press is crowing that this is the "first major gun control measure in over a decade."

* Taking the BATFE's horrifically expansive unlawful regulations dealing with veterans' loss of gun rights and making them unchangeable congressionally-endorsed statutory law is NOT "maintaining the status quo."

* We are told that the McCarthy/Leahy/Schumer bill should be passed because it contains special provisions to allow persons prohibited from owning guns to get their rights restored. But there is already such a provision in the law; it is 18 U.S.C. 925(c). And the reason why no one has been able to get their rights restored under CURRENT LAW is that funds for the system have been blocked by Chuck Schumer. It is no favor to gun owners for Chuck Schumer -- the man who has blocked funding for McClure-Volkmer's "relief from disability" provisions for 15 years -- to now offer to give us back a tepid version of the provisions of current law which he has tried so hard to destroy.

Finally, there is the cost, which ranges from $1 billion in the cheapest draft to $5 billion -- to one bill which places no limits whatsoever on spending. Thus, we would be drastically increasing funding for gun control -- at a time when BATFE, which has done so much damage to the Second Amendment, should be punished, rather than rewarded.

We would now respectfully ask the NRA staff to step back from a battle with its membership -- and to join with us in opposing McCarthy/Leahy/Schumer gun control, rather than supporting it.

And, to our friends and NRA members, we would ask that you take this letter and pass it onto your friends and colleagues.

Sincerely,

Senator H.L. "Bill" Richardson (ret.)
Founder and Chairman

Larry Pratt
Executive Director

Michael E. Hammond
Legislative Counsel

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NRA Members, please sign this petition now

Are you a member of the NRA? I am, and I'm not pleased with Joaquin Jackson being on the Board of Directors. Remember this guy: NRA Director Says Five Rounds is Enough ?

(see the poster and video at the bottom of the page for more info)

If you're as disgusted as I am, please sign the Petition to Recall Joaquin Jackson and send it to the provided address. And tell all your shooting buddies. Here's a link to a PDF version: Petition JJ Recall.pdf

Please send them to the Petition Sponsor at:

JJ Recall c/o Jeff Reed
P.O. Box 14118
Newport News, VA 23608

And while you're at it, consider joining Gun Owners of America, it's only $20 and they promise a no-compromise approach:
Membership Info
Join, Renew Or Contribute Online

They have a very convenient legislative action center: Legislative Action Center

Thank you.

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NRA Director Says Five Rounds is Enough

NRA Director Says Five Rounds is Enough
That JPFO and the NRA have different views on "gun control" is no secret; you can read our position -- and view supporting evidence -- at http://www.jpfo.org/alert20061211.htm . You can also read an article on the NRA's recent alignment with gun-prohibitionist Carolyn McCarthy at http://www.jpfo.org/smith-nra.htm .
And now, NRA Director Joaquin Jackson has publically stated that magazine capacities should be limited to five rounds and that "assault weapons [sic] should be limited to military or police." That's right -- a director of the supposedly pro-gun NRA wants to take YOUR semi-automatic rifles away.
Don't believe us? Think it's just a rumor? View the evidence for yourself at http://www.klru.org/texasmonthlytalks/archives/movies/jackson5_44k.mov (we also have it mirrored on the JPFO site at http://www.jpfo.org/joaquin.mov ).
Already the NRA apologists are coming out of the woodwork. Anyone who points out the hypocrisy of Jackson's position are denounced as "wackos", "black helicopter paranoids," and "just trying to make a buck."
It's time to "Humiliate and Repudiate" Joaquin Jackson and the NRA. Go to http://www.jpfo.org/handbill-joaquin.jpg to see our latest handbill. Print it out and distribute it to those who still believe the NRA is working in the interest of gun owners. They are not.
If you value the truth more than betrayal and want an aggressive defense of your natural and Second Amendment rights, visit http://www.jpfo.org/member.htm to learn how you can join JPFO. We encourage you to use our "gun control" destroying books and videos ( http://shop.jpfo.org ) and get on board with us today.
- The Liberty Crew
PS Don't forget that you can view all our "Humiliate and Repudiate" handbills at http://www.jpfo.org/freebies.htm

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