Anti-Gun Assaults Launched In The 103rd Congress

                             By Robert Pew

               (American Rifleman, March 1993, page 53)


Citing unfounded statistics, allegations of national "gunrunning"
operations and claims of "more powerful" guns in criminal hands,
anti-gun politicians opened the 103rd Congress by introducing a spate
of harsh new proposals along with stand-bys from previous sessions.

With Bill Clinton in the White House Sarah Brady and Handgun Control,
Inc., now have a firm ally standing ready to sign away firearms rights
to fulfill his campaign commitment made publicly to the national
gun-ban group. President Clinton promises to give the nation's gun
owners the toughest four years ever, with his allies in the U.S.
Congress and the national media setting the agenda for battles for the
future of Second Amendment rights.

The following highlights the major pieces of legislation that have been
introduced in Congress:

    H.J. RES. 81: Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.) has reintroduced a
    resolution calling for a constitutional amendment that would repeal
    the Second Amendment.  This resolution represents the true goal of
    the anti-gun movement: to eliminate all firearms rights and set the
    stage for the federal prohibition of gun ownership in America.

    H.R. 277: The Brady Bill in its original form imposing a seven-day
    wait on the exercise of Second Amendment rights has been
    reintroduced by Rep. Romano Mazzoli (D-Ky.). The bill also requires
    that local law enforcement officials be informed of the prospective
    purchase. It does not require a criminal background check if local
    officials cannot or choose not to conduct one.

    S. 108: Introduced by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), this
    bill calls for a permanent ban on the importation of semi-auto
    firearms, "large" capacity magazines and "assault-weapon
    accessories." The to-be-banned magazines are defined as those
    accepting more than five rounds. Included is language banning any
    magazine or feeding device that "can be readily restored or
    converted to accept" more than five rounds.  S. 108 exempts .22
    cal. rimfire tubular magazines.

    S. 109: This Moynihan legislation would place new reporting and
    regulatory burdens on ammunition importers and manufacturers.
    Detailed records of all ammunition transactions would have to be
    maintained for a length of time that would be determined by
    Secretary of the Treasury.

    Further, each importer or manufacturer would be required to
    complete an annual report on ammunition sales to be studied by the
    National Academy of Sciences to determine their "criminal misuse."
    S. 109 will place a huge and an expensive regulatory burden-costs
    that most certainly will be passed on directly to consumers-on
    ammunition makers.

    S. 179: Pointing to the criminal use of popular handgun ammunition
    - .25, .32 and 9 mm cals. - Moynihan has introduced S. 179 that
    would impose a 1000% [yes, one-thousand percent!] tax on these
    calibers of ammunition.  Such an unfair tax is aimed only against
    legitimate shooters and hunters who use these rounds on the range
    and in the field, while drug dealers and street thugs maintain
    their illicit commerce in both firearms and ammunition.  Moynihan
    has targeted ammunition for a number of years. He asserts that
    since it is impractical for the government to collect all the guns
    in existence, the government should control ammunition. "A handgun
    is of no use without bullets" is how the Senator describes it.

    S. 21: Newly elected Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) has
    reintroduced the California Desert Protection Act which would ban
    hunting - and also many other activities - in the vast Mojave
    Desert.  Such a limited land use bill passed by anti-hunting
    environmenitalists would serve as a blueprint for other legislation
    to lock up public lands in other states from hunting.

    H.R. 544: After anti-gun Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder introduced his
    one-gun-a-month legislation at the state level, Virginia's leading
    anti-gun congressman, Jim Moran, along with New Jersey's Robert
    Torricelli and New York's Gary Ackerman, all Democrats, introduced
    the "Multiple Handgun Transfer Prohibition Act" to make it illegal
    for a person to receive more than one handgun in a 30-day period.
    It also contains de facto registration language calling for records
    of handgun purchases to be sent to local law enforcement officials.

In one stroke, the anti-gunners would ration Second Amendment rights
and initiate a gun owners' registration system.  Promising this is just
the beginning, Torricelli is already on record supporting a
two-handguns-per-year limit.

Insiders report that Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his anti-gun
allies in Congress are crafting an Omnibus Gun Control Bill to repeal
all the advances made by the Volkmer-McClure Firearms Owners Protection
Act, impose a national waiting period, ban semi-automatic firearms and
set up a registration system of either guns or gun owners.  Other
proposals, such as new regulations on Federal Firearms License holders
and attempts to interfere with the rights of Americans to purchase the
firearms of their choice, are also in the works.

Anti-gun congressmen and senators, together with Sarah Brady and HCI,
hope to make the 103rd Congress a graveyard for Second Amendment
rights. The election of anti-gun President Bill Clinton has energized
them to push hard for the passage of legislation that in past years gun
owners have successfully defeated.

It will take unified and constant effort to stop the anti-gunners. Only
the strong voice of millions of gun owners can reach through the
misinformation and distortions of those who would eliminate the Second
Amendment and all firearms owners' rights.

Gun owners must keep the pressure on their representatives in Congress,
lest those politicians forget their duty to protect the constitutional
rights of all Americans.