Gun owners claim victory in 'Obamacare' skirmish
Report Reid adds protection in 'manager's amendment'
Posted: January 03, 2010
12:10 am Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Members of Gun Owners of America are claiming a skirmish victory in the fight over nationalized health care, dubbed "Obamacare" by critics, because of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's "manager's amendment" to the plan.
The issue long has been festering over whether an all-powerful government health management system would consider gun ownership a "health care" issue and whether such language could be used to further tighten limits on gun ownership.
The concern seems legitimate since federal officials already use veterans' medical records regarding post-traumatic stress syndrome and other factors to determine whether they should be allowed to purchase weapons.
According to a report from the organization, several senators had been asked about the situation – and had denied that guns were an issue.
(Story continues below)
For example, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told a constituent, "There is no mention of 'gun-related health data' anywhere in the Senate's health reform bill, and there is nothing in the bill that would result in any such data being reported to the government.
Your right to bear arms is guaranteed! Read 'The Essential Second Amendment Guide' by Wayne LaPierre
"I support the Second Amendment and will continue to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms," he said.
"Then there's Democrat Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico: 'It is my understanding that there is no discussion within the Senate concerning firearms in relation to health care. Please be assured I will keep your comments in mind as the Senate debates comprehensive health care reform,'" according to the Gun Owners report.
But GOA officials quoted a report from "Slate," which said, "Score one for the Gun Owners of America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle Association…. [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who represents the gun-loving state of Nevada has inserted into his 'manager's amendment' a section titled 'Protecting Second Amendment Gun Rights.' It states that no wellness program implemented under health reform may require disclosure or collection of any information relating to gun ownership."
"What a delicious irony this created. Prior to Sen. Reid's Second Amendment 'fix,' many senators had been telling their constituents for months that there were no Second Amendment concerns in the ObamaCare legislation – and now, Sen. Reid left them out on a limb," GOA reported.
"Sen. Bingaman, will you really keep the views of your constituents in mind? If so, then why did you vote for the ObamaCare bill? After all, more than 60 percent of the American people oppose it!" the report said. "Sen. Casey supports the Second Amendment? What a laugh! Has Sen. Casey seen his voting record on the GOA website? This year, he's voted wrong on gun issues over 70 percent of the time."
"To listen to these and other liberal senators, you would think there were no 2nd Amendment concerns in President Obama's signature piece of legislation. But then, lo and behold, Sen. Reid included language in his substitute amendment that totally undercut these senators' excuses," GOA reported.
"It's true that GOA won a victory in this area. But GOA's opposition to the 'wellness' regulations was not driven by an effort to help big business, as it was totally driven by opposition to GOVERNMENT REGULATION that would impinge upon gun owners," the report said. "Every draft of the ObamaCare legislation on Capitol Hill would give Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tremendous regulatory power. And in early versions of the Senate bill, the anti-gun Sebelius could very well have mandated that gun ownership is an activity so dangerous that your insurance coverage needed to be suspended.
"The Reid 'fix' prohibits companies from charging insurance premiums that would impinge upon 'lawful' gun owners, but this will leave millions of gun owners in the cold – specifically, those honest Americans who cannot legally own firearms in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City," GOA said.
While every little bit helps, the organization said, there still is much potential danger.
"It's still possible that ATF agents could troll through your medical information and send that data to the FBI, who in turn, could use it to deny honest Americans their right to keep and bear arms – similar to the 150,000 military veterans who have now lost their gun rights," the GOA said.
There have been other gun-related issues already, too, under President Obama. Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, supported Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns before it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. And since Obama has been in office, he's already advocated for a treaty that would require a federal license for hunters to reload their ammunition, has expressed a desire to ban "assault" weapons, has seen a plan to require handgun owners to submit to mental health evaluations and sparked a rush on ammunition purchases with his history of anti-gun positions.
Further, WND reported on the nomination of David Michaels, the chief of a George-Soros-funded Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, as the next head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
As WND reported, Second Amendment advocates sounded an alarm over Michaels, warning the most significant attack on gun rights in years soon could come in the form of workplace "safety" regulations.
Obama's nomination of Michaels, a George Washington University professor, drew reaction from Walter Olson at Overlawyered.com.
Olson said Michaels' strong views on firearms are "by no means irrelevant to the agenda of an agency like OSHA, because once you start viewing private gun ownership as a public health menace, it begins to seem logical to use the powers of government to urge or even require employers to forbid workers from possessing guns on company premises, up to and including parking lots, ostensibly for the protection of co-workers."
Two years ago, Michaels condemned proposals in Georgia and Florida that would have allowed workers to carry guns to and from their places of work for protection.
He continued in his 2007 writing to laud the ability of the federal government to respond by creating new laws to ban activities or behaviors.
David Michaels
"When the toll of preventable and pointless deaths or injuries from any single event or related events becomes so great, or particular aspects of the story bring it to the public's attention, our nation invariably demands more and stronger regulation, not less," Michaels wrote at the time.
"In the U.S., we see an average of one gun-related homicide every 45 minutes, or 32 each day," he wrote. "These are usually treated as isolated incidents, until a horrific event like the Virginia Tech massacre reawakens the public and strengthens public health advocates who are attempting to prevent gun violence."
At RedCounty.com, writer Bryan Myrick noted that the Washington Times has urged the Senate to reject Michaels' nomination.
"OSHA is an agency that already has a well-earned reputation for abusing its authority and reaching beyond its stated purpose. Add one zealot and it easily becomes an oppressive entity with immense power over all American businesses, large and small. At a time in which America's businesses desperately need the freedom to responsibly pursue earning profits and put workers back on the payroll, the chemical potency of combining Obama's left-wing agenda with an anti-business zealot manager at OSHA could prove toxic," Myrick wrote.
Columnist Dave Kopel at the Independence Institute in Colorado said, "Plenty of Obama's administration appointees have a longer record of anti-gun activism than David Michaels, but perhaps none of them have the ability to make such a dramatic, instant change in the lives of law-abiding gun owners.
"By its own fiat, OSHA could outlaw the possession of firearms in every workplace and every employee parking lot in the United States," he wrote.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=120547
Report Reid adds protection in 'manager's amendment'
Posted: January 03, 2010
12:10 am Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Members of Gun Owners of America are claiming a skirmish victory in the fight over nationalized health care, dubbed "Obamacare" by critics, because of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's "manager's amendment" to the plan.
The issue long has been festering over whether an all-powerful government health management system would consider gun ownership a "health care" issue and whether such language could be used to further tighten limits on gun ownership.
The concern seems legitimate since federal officials already use veterans' medical records regarding post-traumatic stress syndrome and other factors to determine whether they should be allowed to purchase weapons.
According to a report from the organization, several senators had been asked about the situation – and had denied that guns were an issue.
(Story continues below)
For example, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told a constituent, "There is no mention of 'gun-related health data' anywhere in the Senate's health reform bill, and there is nothing in the bill that would result in any such data being reported to the government.
Your right to bear arms is guaranteed! Read 'The Essential Second Amendment Guide' by Wayne LaPierre
"I support the Second Amendment and will continue to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms," he said.
"Then there's Democrat Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico: 'It is my understanding that there is no discussion within the Senate concerning firearms in relation to health care. Please be assured I will keep your comments in mind as the Senate debates comprehensive health care reform,'" according to the Gun Owners report.
But GOA officials quoted a report from "Slate," which said, "Score one for the Gun Owners of America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle Association…. [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who represents the gun-loving state of Nevada has inserted into his 'manager's amendment' a section titled 'Protecting Second Amendment Gun Rights.' It states that no wellness program implemented under health reform may require disclosure or collection of any information relating to gun ownership."
"What a delicious irony this created. Prior to Sen. Reid's Second Amendment 'fix,' many senators had been telling their constituents for months that there were no Second Amendment concerns in the ObamaCare legislation – and now, Sen. Reid left them out on a limb," GOA reported.
"Sen. Bingaman, will you really keep the views of your constituents in mind? If so, then why did you vote for the ObamaCare bill? After all, more than 60 percent of the American people oppose it!" the report said. "Sen. Casey supports the Second Amendment? What a laugh! Has Sen. Casey seen his voting record on the GOA website? This year, he's voted wrong on gun issues over 70 percent of the time."
"To listen to these and other liberal senators, you would think there were no 2nd Amendment concerns in President Obama's signature piece of legislation. But then, lo and behold, Sen. Reid included language in his substitute amendment that totally undercut these senators' excuses," GOA reported.
"It's true that GOA won a victory in this area. But GOA's opposition to the 'wellness' regulations was not driven by an effort to help big business, as it was totally driven by opposition to GOVERNMENT REGULATION that would impinge upon gun owners," the report said. "Every draft of the ObamaCare legislation on Capitol Hill would give Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tremendous regulatory power. And in early versions of the Senate bill, the anti-gun Sebelius could very well have mandated that gun ownership is an activity so dangerous that your insurance coverage needed to be suspended.
"The Reid 'fix' prohibits companies from charging insurance premiums that would impinge upon 'lawful' gun owners, but this will leave millions of gun owners in the cold – specifically, those honest Americans who cannot legally own firearms in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City," GOA said.
While every little bit helps, the organization said, there still is much potential danger.
"It's still possible that ATF agents could troll through your medical information and send that data to the FBI, who in turn, could use it to deny honest Americans their right to keep and bear arms – similar to the 150,000 military veterans who have now lost their gun rights," the GOA said.
There have been other gun-related issues already, too, under President Obama. Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, supported Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns before it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. And since Obama has been in office, he's already advocated for a treaty that would require a federal license for hunters to reload their ammunition, has expressed a desire to ban "assault" weapons, has seen a plan to require handgun owners to submit to mental health evaluations and sparked a rush on ammunition purchases with his history of anti-gun positions.
Further, WND reported on the nomination of David Michaels, the chief of a George-Soros-funded Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, as the next head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
As WND reported, Second Amendment advocates sounded an alarm over Michaels, warning the most significant attack on gun rights in years soon could come in the form of workplace "safety" regulations.
Obama's nomination of Michaels, a George Washington University professor, drew reaction from Walter Olson at Overlawyered.com.
Olson said Michaels' strong views on firearms are "by no means irrelevant to the agenda of an agency like OSHA, because once you start viewing private gun ownership as a public health menace, it begins to seem logical to use the powers of government to urge or even require employers to forbid workers from possessing guns on company premises, up to and including parking lots, ostensibly for the protection of co-workers."
Two years ago, Michaels condemned proposals in Georgia and Florida that would have allowed workers to carry guns to and from their places of work for protection.
He continued in his 2007 writing to laud the ability of the federal government to respond by creating new laws to ban activities or behaviors.
David Michaels
"When the toll of preventable and pointless deaths or injuries from any single event or related events becomes so great, or particular aspects of the story bring it to the public's attention, our nation invariably demands more and stronger regulation, not less," Michaels wrote at the time.
"In the U.S., we see an average of one gun-related homicide every 45 minutes, or 32 each day," he wrote. "These are usually treated as isolated incidents, until a horrific event like the Virginia Tech massacre reawakens the public and strengthens public health advocates who are attempting to prevent gun violence."
At RedCounty.com, writer Bryan Myrick noted that the Washington Times has urged the Senate to reject Michaels' nomination.
"OSHA is an agency that already has a well-earned reputation for abusing its authority and reaching beyond its stated purpose. Add one zealot and it easily becomes an oppressive entity with immense power over all American businesses, large and small. At a time in which America's businesses desperately need the freedom to responsibly pursue earning profits and put workers back on the payroll, the chemical potency of combining Obama's left-wing agenda with an anti-business zealot manager at OSHA could prove toxic," Myrick wrote.
Columnist Dave Kopel at the Independence Institute in Colorado said, "Plenty of Obama's administration appointees have a longer record of anti-gun activism than David Michaels, but perhaps none of them have the ability to make such a dramatic, instant change in the lives of law-abiding gun owners.
"By its own fiat, OSHA could outlaw the possession of firearms in every workplace and every employee parking lot in the United States," he wrote.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=120547
![[sad]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/004.gif "Sad [sad]")
