April 11, by a vote of 68-31, the U.S. Senate voted to move forward withdebate and votes on a variety of gun control proposals.
The underlying bill that will be consideredby the Senate is S. 649, the so-called “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of2013”. This bill would criminalize the private transfer of firearms bylaw-abiding citizens, requiring friends, neighbors and many family members toget government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution. It is expected that a number of amendments will be offered to S. 649,including a ban on commonly and lawfully-owned firearms and magazines andlanguage to criminalize the private transfer of firearms through an expansionof background checks. This includes the misguided “compromise” proposaldrafted by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Chuck Schumer(D-NY).
NRA’s position on these proposals isunmistakably clear—we are unequivocally opposed to S. 649, theamendments mentioned above, and any other anti-gun amendments. As wehave noted previously, expanding background checks at gun shows or elsewherewill not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools. Given the importance of these issues, votes on all anti-gun amendments orproposals will be considered in NRA’s future candidate evaluations.
If the Senate is truly concerned aboutenhancing safety, rather than political grandstanding, it will replace thecurrent provisions of S. 649 with language that is properly focused onaddressing mental health inadequacies; prosecuting violent criminals; andkeeping our kids safe in their schools.
The next round of votes on these measures arelikely to occur on Tuesday, April 16.
The most importantthing NRA members and Second Amendment supporters can do right now is to call,email, write and fax their U.S. Senators, urging them to oppose S. 649 and allanti-gun amendments to that bill, and to encourage your family, friends and fellowfirearm owners to do the same. To identify and contact your legislators inWashington, D.C., you can use the "Write Your Reps" feature at http://www.nramedia.org/t/1422628/27700164/111/0/www.NRAILA.org, or you canreach your member of Congress by phone at 202-224-3121.
To read NRA-ILAExecutive Director Chris Cox’s letter that was sent to Senators prior totoday’s procedural vote, click here.
