But there’s still a very good chance we can win!

“Gun Owners of America [has] been pressing lawmakers who may have wavered on this emotional issue of background checks.” – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, April 10, 2013

We’ve been fighting these gun control battles for almost 40 years now. And we almost always win. But it’s almost always a nail-biter.

And so it is on Obama’s gun control agenda.

We’d hoped that we could stop the gun control bribe-o-thon early (and risk-free) by blocking the motion to proceed to the package. But thanks to sell-outs like Pennsylvania’s one-term senator, Pat Toomey, we’re going to have to take a different battle position and defeat the package at a later stage.

The Senate today overcame the Paul-Cruz-Lee filibuster and voted to move to proceed to Harry Reid’s gun control bill (S. 649). Where Reid needed 60 votes, the tally was 68-31. Click here to see if your Senator sold you out by voting to “move to proceed” to the bill.

Republican defectors who voted anti-gun were: Alexander (TN), Ayotte (NH), Burr (NC), Chambliss (GA), Collins (ME), Corker (TN), Coburn (OK), Flake (AZ), Isakson (GA), McCain (AZ), Heller (NV), Hoeven (ND), Kirk (IL), Graham (SC), Toomey (PA) and Wicker (MS).

So, here’s where we are. Right after the Senate proceeded to the gun control bill, Harry Reid used his privileged recognition to put a bunch of amendments in place. In Senate parlance, they are referred to as an “amendment tree;” and they contain the universal registry bill, the Feinstein gun ban, and the magazine ban. These will be voted on in upcoming days.

As for the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer universal registry bill, don’t believe the press’ efforts to sugar-coat it. If you have ever had an “Internet … posting” on (or related to) your gun, you can sell it only by going to a dealer and filling out a 4473 and getting the government’s approval. Only a cave man would be exempt.

And once you have a 4473? Well, the ATF is going from dealer to dealer, copying the information on these forms, and feeding it into a database. But, says Toomey, he’s against universal registries. This is where it would have helped if Toomey had consulted someone who knew something about guns.

Registration and violation of privacy.

First of all, Toomey’s anti-registry language prohibits photocopying the 4473’s, but it doesn’t prohibit going into the FFL with a laptop and copying all the information. Second, ATF takes the position that the data it’s accumulating in a database is not a “registry,” so Toomey’s ban does no good. Third, guess what the sanction is for violation of Toomey’s anti-registry language? Answer: Eric Holder has to choose to prosecute himself and his own department.

But this isn’t the only bad thing about Toomey-Manchin-Schumer.

Section 107 of the sell-out also waives any federal privacy prohibitions under HIPAA to sending the names of Americans with PTSD, ADHD, and post partem depression to the gun ban database. But that’s not all.

Believe in Jesus, hand in your guns?

Because private shrinks will be able to add patients names into a federal database of the mentally ill – without due process – you will be at their mercy.

As Red State editor, Erick Erickson says, “Activist mental health providers will probably be overly aggressive in adding people to the list. Give it five years in liberal areas and people who believe in the physical resurrection of Christ will probably get automatic entry onto the list.”

And as for veterans? Toomey-Manchin-Schumer reinforces the proposition that bureaucrats in the Department of Veterans Affairs can take away veterans’ rights without any due process. If a veteran has $30,000 to spend getting back the rights Toomey-Manchin-Schumer wrongly took from him, the sell-out creates yet another redundant money-trap for restoration of rights that shouldn’t have been taken away in the first place.

Repealing gun owner protections.

What if you want to travel across the country? McClure-Volkmer allowed you to do that with an unloaded gun in the trunk (18 U.S.C. 926A). But, under the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer sell-out, unless you can “demonstrate,” to the satisfaction of the New York police (1) where you came from, (2) where you’re going, (3) that you’re legally entitled to possess the gun in the place you can from, and (4) that you’re legally entitled to possess the gun in the place you’re going, they will arrest you in New York.

The Toomey-Manchin-Schumer sell-out creates a Biden-like commission to insure that the cries for gun control continue.

Like sprinkles on a pile of dung, Toomey and Schumer steal some of the proposals we drafted and try to use them to get us to buy onto gun control. But it won’t work.

The gun movement is united against this disgusting pile of gun control.

Here is the new battlefield. Because of the Senate rules, many of the upcoming gun control votes will need 60 (out of 100 votes) to move forward. That will almost certainly be the case with the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer proposal. And because the entire Second amendment movement – GOA, NRA, etc. – is against the Toomey language, it virtually ensures his amendment will fail.

And if Toomey-Manchin-Schumer doesn’t pass, then Reid probably won’t have enough votes to overcome a second filibuster on the bill – as it would contain the original anti-gun language sponsored by Reid and Schumer. This all but guarantees that the legislation would die, as Republicans and a half-a-dozen Democrat Senators would then team up to keep the bill from getting the required 60 votes.

One last question or thought: Did we waste our time supporting the Paul-Cruz-Lee filibuster and fighting the motion to proceed? No, because we forced Obama to fire most of his ammunition, as he dragged his human props around Washington in an effort to exploit them for political gain.

If Obama had been able to wait to play this card until Toomey-Manchin-Schumer came up for a vote, that vote would be a lot harder for us to win.

But Obama has already played this card for his “they deserve a vote” theme. Okay, they’re getting their vote. But by the time we reach the vote on cloture on Toomey-Manchin-Schumer, Obama’s exploitation of the victims of Newtown will begin to be realized for the cynical exploitative political ploy that it is. And he will be less able to shift gears and use the victims for the theme “They deserve a ‘yes’ vote.”

ACTION: So contact your Senators. Tell them to vote against cloture on the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer sell-out.

Click here to send your Senators a prewritten email message.

———————————————–

GRNC Alert 4-14-13: Stop Toomey-Manchin Sellout NOW!

Published on Sunday, 14 April 2013 15:05

grnc.org

Stop Toomey-Manchin Sellout NOW!

 

– Make calls to sellouts who voted for ‘universal gun registration’

– Show up at Sen. Burr’s district office to voice your displeasure

DEMONSTRATION AT BURR’S OFFICE:

On Tuesday, April 16 at 10:00 AM, GRNC will be holding a demonstration at Senator Richard Burr’s district office in Winston-Salem to deliver the message that his sellout by voting for S. 659 will not be tolerated, and that if he votes for the Toomey-Manchin “compromise” described below, we will work to remove him from office. As always, please “dress for the press” — no offensive signs or clothing. Please note that firearms at demonstrations are prohibited by law. Suggested themes for signs: “Richard Burr: 2nd Amendment Sellout?” and “Burr: Vote ‘NO’ on Toomey-Manchin”. Please RSVP with number of people attending to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Yes, it’s a work day: BE THERE ANYWAY!

Burr’s office is at:  2000 West 1st St.,  Suite 508,  Winston-Salem, NC 27104. BRING LOTS OF FRIENDS! It you live too far away from this office, visit other district offices, which can be found at:  http://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Update: Vote is on Tuesday

On Thursday, both Senators Richard Burr (R) and Kay Hagan (D) sold out gun owners by voting for the “motion to proceed” which will bring “universal gun registration” bill S. 649 to the Senate floor for debate this Tuesday. Hagan has been doing her best to camouflage her stance on the issue, while Burr had previously said he would support the Rand Paul filibuster, before switching sides and voting to proceed. Burr’s claims that he did so only when promised an open amendment process ring false: The most certain way to kill the bill would have been to deny it a floor vote.

‘See a shrink, lose your guns’

Sen. Harry Reid’s original version of S. 649 would criminalize a huge array of lawful behaviors such as loaning a gun to your mother, loaning a gun to a friend to hunt, or even leaving one at home with your spouse for more than 7 days.

The first amendment to be offered, on Tuesday, is the “compromise” worked out by Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Although you’re being told it is “better” because it protections for gun owners, those “protections” have holes you could drive a truck through.

As is invariably the case, this “compromise” defines a process in which you lose slightly less than under the original proposal, but you still lose! Worse, the Toomey-Manchin measure described by  Gun Owners of America as “See a shrink, lose your guns” is a very real threat.

Says “US News & World Report”: “Toomey and Manchin’s legislation clarifies that doctors can enter mental health records into the national background check system without it being a violation of privacy laws.”
Similar measure triggers confiscations in NY

Thanks to the vagueness of Title 18 of the US Code of Regulations, a single doctor’s report could potentially trigger the loss of your gun rights without any type of hearing or due process. If you want to see how that works, check New York State, which recently adopted a similar proposal. As reported by Fox News and others, authorities have begun confiscating guns from lawful gun owners — in some cases, even the wrong gun owners.

 

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

 

Vote likely Tuesday

Burr says he opposes the Toomey-Manchin amendment…but he also said he would filibuster the S. 649 motion to proceed, and we all know how that worked out. Hagan probably wants to vote for it and then claim it as a pro-Second Amendment vote. It is not.

If the Toomey-Manchin amendment passes on Tuesday, it will hurt our chances for killing S. 649. Stopping Toomey-Manchin will probably kill the bill. Accordingly, you need to deliver a LOUD & CLEAR message to both Burr and Hagan (and Republican turncoats from other states) that if they vote for the Toomey-Manchin amendment, they should start looking for a new job.

•    EMAIL & CALL Sen. Richard Burr at: (202) 224-3154 Contact Sen Burr

•    EMAIL & CALL Sen. Kay Hagan at: (202) 224-6342 Contact Sen Hagan

•    CALL: Republican sellouts who voted for the S. 649 motion to proceed

CONTACT INFO

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte (202) 224-3324

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss (202) 224-3521

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn (202) 224-5754

Maine Sen. Susan Collins (202) 224-2523

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (202) 224-4521

Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson (202) 224-3643

Arizona Sen. John McCain (202) 224-2235

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker (202) 224-6253 

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven (202) 224-2551

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (202) 224-2854

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (202) 224-5972

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander (202) 224-4944

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker (202) 224-3344

Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey (202) 224-4254

Nevada Sen. Dean Heller (202) 224-6244t

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE   

Suggested Subject: “Stop Toomey-Manchin Sellout NOW!” 

Dear Senator:

Your vote for the motion to proceed on S. 649 will be forever reflected as a vote against the Second Amendment. What happens next is up to you: Either you can mitigate the damage by voting against the Toomey-Manchin sellout, or you can once again betray gun owners and the Constitution.

Understand that I do not consider this “compromise” to be anything other than a sellout of Second Amendment interests. The supposed protections if promises gun owners are false, and its dangers to gun rights are very real. As gun owners have told you before: We will not compromise on this issue.

In fact, if you continue to vote against gun rights, I encourage you to look for another job; in your next election, gun owners will work to remove you. I will continue to monitor your performance via Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,

FEDERAL Senators: http://www.senate.gov/