news
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno renewed the Clinton-Gore
Administration^s call for far-reaching restrictions on our right to keep and bear arms this week. Pointing to the act of hate-inspired violence at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles earlier as "justification," Reno urged Congress to pass the Lautenberg gun show ban and the other gun control measures approved by the Senate earlier this year. Additionally, she called for a permanent waiting period on gun purchases, firearms rationing, and gun-owner registration and licensing.
Ironically, all of these proposals are already law in Los Angeles, where the shooting occurred, and, when questioned, Reno refused to say that any of the Administration^s proposals could have prevented this or other recent shootings.
NRA-ILA Executive Director Jim Baker responded to Reno^s attack on our Second Amendment rights by emphasizing that everything the suspect in the Los Angeles shooting, Buford O. Furrow, Jr., did with guns was already illegal -- including the mere possession of any firearm. Baker restated NRA^s support for abolishing probation and parole for violent criminals. Such a measure would have ensured that Furrow, a convicted violent felon on probation, would be in jail rather than roaming free to commit further acts of violence. Baker reiterated NRA^s commitment to lobby Congress for $50 million to enforce federal gun laws against criminals through Project Exile, and he also said the time is long overdue to make the records of persons adjudicated mentally incompetent available to the National Instant Check System.
When Congress returns in September from its August recess, gun control will once again be a leading issue as the House and Senate work to iron out the differences between the two versions of juvenile justice reform legislation passed earlier this year. With a full debate on this issue just weeks away, it is critical that you call the conference committee members considering the juvenile justice legislation, as well as
both your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative, to ensure that no anti-gun language is included in the final conference committee^s legislation. You can call Senators at (202)224-3121, and Representatives at (202)225-3121. For more information on contacting committee members, please call NRA-ILA Grassroots Division at (800)392-8683.
Uploaded: 9/18/1999
Uploaded: 9/18/1999