Victory? Brady Campaign

[ronbok]

Great news! Last night, Congress passed a bill that will strengthen the Brady background check system. It will help ensure that fewer guns end up in the hands of dangerous people like felons and those who have been found to be a threat to themselves or others because of mental illness.

After the Virginia Tech tragedy, with your help, we asked our national leaders, "What are YOU going to do about gun violence?"
The tide is turning. Yesterday, Congress passed the first major piece of legislation to reduce gun violence in over a decade — and congratulations are in order: you, our donors and activists, helped make this victory possible. Thank you!

The "National Instant Check System (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act of 2007" (H.R. 2640) was passed by unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate and House, and now goes to the President's desk for signature.

PLEASE CALL PRESIDENT BUSH TODAY AT 202-456-1111
Urge Him to Sign the NICS Improvement Act Immediately
Give the Virginia Tech families this victory before the New Year
This legislation was passed in response to the Virginia Tech massacre. The killer was able to arm himself because the court order that should have blocked his gun purchase was not reported to the national Brady background check system.

We deeply appreciate the courage and strength of the Virginia Tech victims. On October 16, many of the Virginia Tech families joined Brady President Paul Helmke and me on Capitol Hill calling for passage of this legislation — the efforts of all the families involved were crucial to this victory.

Our special thanks go out to Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) for their work on this legislation.

Much work lies ahead with the implementation of this legislation and our efforts to make the Brady background check system as strong as it can and should be. I know I can count on you to help us make future victories possible.

Click here for more information on the NICS Improvement Act.
Thank you again and happy holidays.
Sincerely,

Sarah Brady, Chair

Meanwhile...see next message...

 

[ronbok]

Gun Lobby Hijacks Bill Intended to Improve Gun Buyer Background Checks

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading national gun violence prevention organizations today warned that a bill intended to improve the records available to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) -- the national system used to screen gun buyers -- has been hijacked by the gun lobby and would now do far more harm than good.


The "NICS Improvement Act" passed today by the Senate would:


-- Resuscitate a failed government program that spent millions of dollars annually to allow persons prohibited from buying guns to regain the ability to legally acquire firearms. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would be required to establish a "relief from disability" program to allow persons now prohibited from possessing a firearm because they have "been adjudicated as a mental defective" or "committed to a mental institution" to apply to have their bar on firearms possession removed. As a result of the bill, more than 116,000 individuals would be eligible to apply. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) used to run a similar program that, in addition to those with mental disabilities, even allowed felons to apply for "relief." Annual costs for the ATF program ballooned to more than $4 million in 1991, with an average cost of $4,800 per applicant and 43 full-time employees dedicated to processing the applications. Congress shut down the ATF program in 1992 because of its high cost, inefficiency, and threat to public safety. Under the bill, states would also be required to establish such "relief" programs to restore the gun privileges of those with mental health disabilities in order to be eligible for potential grant money to upgrade records submitted to the NICS.


-- Set an arbitrary time limit for the VA to act on applications for "relief." If the agency fails to act within 365 days, applicants could file a lawsuit asking a court to restore their gun privileges, even if Congress fails to provide the VA with the appropriate resources to process these investigations. Some prevailing applicants would be entitled to attorneys' fees. This provision is contrary to a unanimous 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ATF's failure to act on a relief application from a felon (because of lack of appropriations) did not constitute a denial that would entitle the applicant to judicial review. The decision noted that courts are ill-equipped to make decisions on individual applications for "relief" under the standards that would apply under the "NICS Improvement Act," stating: "Whether an applicant is `likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety' presupposes an inquiry into that applicant's background -- a function best performed by the Executive, which, unlike courts, is institutionally equipped for conducting a neutral, wide-ranging investigation. Similarly, the `public interest' standard calls for an inherently policy-based decision best left in the hands of an agency."


-- Significantly narrow the category of records of people with mental disabilities that would be submitted to the NICS by the federal government. The current permanent bar on persons with certain health disabilities would be replaced with temporary restrictions.


Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, states, "This bill was intended to be Congress' response to the mass shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 people murdered. But rather than focusing on improving the current laws prohibiting people with certain mental health disabilities from buying guns, the bill is now nothing more than a gun lobby wish list. It will waste millions of taxpayer dollars restoring the gun privileges of persons previously determined to present a danger to themselves or others. Once a solution, the bill is now part of the problem."


Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, adds, "It is ironic that the gun lobby has coerced the Senate into providing resources to rearm mentally disabled veterans during a time when the VA is struggling to provide adequate mental health care to those in need."


Robyn Thomas, executive director of the Legal Community Against Violence, comments, "The bill's original intent, to increase reporting of state records to the NICS database, is an important objective that would improve enforcement of federal laws governing persons prohibited from possessing firearms. The changes made by the gun lobby risk undermining those laws, and we call on the House to have a full debate on the merits of this legislation."

Violence Policy Center

 

[ronbok]

Dingell: NICS Improvements will Benefit Both Lawful Gun Owners and Law Enforcement

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/mi15_dingell/PR071219nics.shtml

 

[Jose]

If the anti gun nitwtis don't like the bill, the NRA must have done a good job.

 

[ronbok]

Another article on this bill...

http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/12/21/122107_4A_gun_edit.html

 

[LoginName]

Yawn... let them beat their war drums and high-five each other.

Their true sense of self importance and influence is evident in this passage...

Congress passed the first major piece of legislation to reduce gun violence in over a decade

That's a decade of failure and ineffectiveness they're acknowledging and celebrating. It's hardly a major piece of legislation and it never would have passed if Brady, Helmeke, McCarthy, etc hadn't given a hand-job to the NRA to get it.

 

[drgrant]

Sounds like the antis are going out of their way to demonize the
NRA, that's what it looks like to me. They got what they wanted
and they still bitch. Basically this is living proof right here that
the antis will NEVER be appeased. Heck, it should be proof
even to the NRA itself that colluding with antis is always
unilaterally bad. It's also living proof that any noises antis make
about finding a so called "middle ground" with gun owners amount to
nothing more than horse braying- because that's basically what
the NRA did, and they still bitch about it. What a surprise.

-Mike

 

[gene]

Gotta tell you this even if it makes me the unpopular one here. SOME PEOPLE SHOULDN'T have a gun. It's the people that shouldn't have em that making the rest of the "NORMAL" gun owners look bad.

Look I have lived half or MORE of my expected life term already but I can tell you that I have friends and others I known that I wont shoot with because I feel they are immature or irresponsible. They are still my friends but I am not gonna give them a gun to shoot!

I treat guns and ownership with a great deal of responsibilty and I expect others to do the same. I had a good friend killed at a clearing barrel years ago by an Airman F---ing around with his loaded weapon. He left a wife and two kids because some imbecile thought he was funny!

 

[gene]

For those that don't know a clearing barrel is a metal barrel full of sand where you clear your loaded weapons when you go off shift atleast in the Air Force.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Gotta tell you this even if it makes me the unpopular one here. SOME PEOPLE SHOULDN'T have a gun. It's the people that shouldn't have em that making the rest of the "NORMAL" gun owners look bad.

Look I have lived half or MORE of my expected life term already but I can tell you that I have friends and others I known that I wont shoot with because I feel they are immature or irresponsible. They are still my friends but I am not gonna give them a gun to shoot!

I treat guns and ownership with a great deal of responsibilty and I expect others to do the same. I had a good friend killed at a clearing barrel years ago by an Airman F---ing around with his loaded weapon. He left a wife and two kids because some imbecile thought he was funny!

There are definitely people out there that shouldn't be allowed to own a firearm. The reverse side is that there are a large group of people out there that should be able to own a firearm but cannot due to BS red tape and a lack of recourse. This bill now gives some of those folks recourse to get their rights back. Overall, a positive thing.

 

[gene]

There are definitely people out there that shouldn't be allowed to own a firearm. The reverse side is that there are a large group of people out there that should be able to own a firearm but cannot due to BS red tape and a lack of recourse. This bill now gives some of those folks recourse to get their rights back. Overall, a positive thing.

Agreed!

 

[gene]

I will say though that if they leave the state of Mass anyway to F__k it up they surely will. I have no problems with laws that have penalties that go both ways! They will play games with this hairy little booger!

 

[gene]

Sad to say but if your denied a right of any kind in this country, the obligated to prove yourself innocent at most of the times your own expense. The jails are full of people that were guilty and those that couldn't pay for a good lawyer. What they got was a smuck working for the state at minimum wage hoping he would someday make it as a real lawyer? ITS A GAME! While we may have the best judicial system in the worls its still a racket! I have two lawyer reletives and they are fuc----ing no nothing idiots that a real lawyer would chew up and spit out. Both are dumber the dirt as far as I am concerned and both liberal lunitics!

 

[z0mbi]

Gotta tell you this even if it makes me the unpopular one here. SOME PEOPLE SHOULDN'T have a gun. It's the people that shouldn't have em that making the rest of the "NORMAL" gun owners look bad.

Just because you spent some time in a mental institution doesn't mean you're crazy and irresponsible.