Monday, March 19, 2012

GOA Action Alert: Begich-Manchin Has One Purpose: To keep the Senate Gavel in the hands of Harry Reid

Your e-mails have turned the Senate around in the battle to protect “constitutional carry” states in federal reciprocity legislation.

First of all, please realize the reason we’re fighting so strenuously for the Thune-Vitter language. At stake in this fight is the right of Americans to carry concealed weapons from state to state WITHOUT being registered … WITHOUT getting a permit or license … and WITHOUT being registered like sex offenders.

The Thune-Vitter language will guarantee your right -- if you live in a “constitutional carry” state -- to freely carry firearms as protected by the Second Amendment.

But make no mistake about it: The ONLY reason for the Begich-Manchin-Baucus bill -– sponsored by three anti-gun Democrats –- is to keep the Senate gavel in Harry Reid’s hands.

S. 2188 would do this by allowing anti-gun Democrats to pretend to care about the Second Amendment, while pushing legislation which would deter additional states from passing “constitutional carry” legislation.

Think about it: Both Begich and Manchin HAVE YET TO CAST A PRO-GUN VOTE during this Congress!

Manchin has NEVER cast a pro-gun vote while he’s been in the Senate. And Begich has cast anti-gun votes 82% of the time since joining the Senate in 2009. Plus, he is a former member of the anti-gun Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is headed by the extremist New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The other Democrat on S. 2188, Montana Sen. Max Baucus, has a D- rating with GOA.

So why would we trust these anti-gun Senators to do the right thing on gun legislation? The answer is: “We shouldn’t!”

S. 2188 is just an attempt to get cover for their abysmal Second Amendment voting records. Consider this:

* They didn’t vote our way when we urged them to vote against Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

* They didn’t vote with us when we pleaded with them to oppose the anti-gun ObamaCare legislation, which enables the BATFE and FBI to troll through the health care database for gun owners who would be barred from exercising their Second Amendment rights because of their medical information. Nor did they vote our way when we asked them to support a repeal of this obnoxious legislation last year.

* And remember the DISCLOSE Act from a couple of years ago? Begich and Baucus voted to place severe and unconstitutional limits on GOA’s ability to hold individual congressmen accountable in the weeks leading up to an election. (Manchin wasn’t in the Senate yet.)

* They also opposed a repeal of the Veterans Disarmament Act -- legislation that has legalized a practice (begun by Bill Clinton) which has disarmed more than 150,000 military veterans for ailments like PTSD.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. These anti-gun, compromising Senators have stabbed us in the back repeatedly. Although now that they’ve turned off a good part of their electorate, they are trying to appear pro-gun.

But they can’t even claim they’re engaged in compromise to help this legislation pass muster, because the much stronger Thune language ALREADY RECEIVED AN OVERWHELMING VOTE MARGIN in 2009!!!

And because of the pro-gun gains made in the 2010 elections, there should be more than 62 Senators who will support the Thune language -- which means we can easily overcome a filibuster.

This just seems like a bald-faced attempt to keep Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in power. And let’s face it, when Reid’s running the Senate, our liberties are in danger. (Consider just some of the anti-gun votes listed above that Senator Reid has pushed.)

One more thing: The Begich-Manchin bill will discourage states from enacting “constitutional carry” legislation.

After all, if activists in states considering “constitutional carry” believe they will have to get a license anyway –- because of this enormous “carrot” the anti-gun Democrats are holding out for them -– what incentive do they have to walk the halls of the state capitol, to call their legislators and testify in favor of “constitutional carry.”

The answer is: “None.”

As we write this, the Thune-Vitter bill already has 17 sponsors and cosponsors. The anti-gun Begich-Manchin bill is stuck at three anti-gun Democrats.

But we need to keep the pressure on.

ACTION: Contact your Senators. Urge them to support the Thune-Vitter firearms reciprocity bill and oppose the Begich-Manchin anti-gun bill.

NOTE: There are two different letters, depending on whether your Senators are Democrat or Republican. By clicking here to use the CapWiz system to contact your Senators
, the appropriate letter will be automatically selected.

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