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Committee updates
Rep. Dave Jones on HB 95
Gun show
Become a postcard distributor!
Meeting with Sen. Terry Spencer
New! Candidate info!
COMMITTEE UPDATES
No firearms-related bills are scheduled to be heard Monday.
According to Rep. Dave Jones, sponsor of HB 95 (Background checks for
private transfers), his bill will be heard at the next meeting of the House
Law Enforcement Committee. The committee is scheduled to meet TUESDAY,
FEB. 8 at 4 PM. Please plan to attend!! However, no public
agenda has been released, so there is no way to know for sure if this bill
will be heard then. UTGuns will do its best to keep you informed,
but you should check committee agendas at: http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2000/agenda/comst.htm
REP. JONES ON HB 95, WEAPONS AMENDMENTS
I spoke with Rep. Jones on Friday about HB 95 which, as written, would
require background checks for virtually all private transfers of firearms.
Rep. Jones said he had received numerous questions and complaints about
the bill language (that means from all of you great leg-alerts subscribers!).
Due to your efforts, he will be substituting the bill to clarify that only
transfers at gun shows, swap meets, and similar events would require background
checks.
This is still completely unacceptable. In order to enforce these proposals, each and every person attending a gun show or swap meet would have to be registered, and the event sponsor would have to keep detailed records indefinitely. (Otherwise, people could simply display guns at such events, and arrange to make the transfer at some other time or place.) Would you agree to be registered by the government just to attend a gun show? I wouldn't, nor would most other firearms enthusiasts. So the real purpose of the bill is to shut down gun shows entirely.
Of particular interest was Rep. Jones's inspiration for this viciously
anti-gun bill. Was it Charles Schumer? Frank Lautenberg?
Dianne Feinstein? Sarah Brady? NO! He says it's "not
a Democrat bill at all". He, and drafting attorney Tani Pack Downing,
say they took the language directly from our own Senator Orrin Hatch's
Juvenile Crime Bill! So there you have it: Orrin Hatch, inspiration
and role model for liberal, Democrat, gun-grabbers. More proof that
we need to elect pro-gun officials!
GUN SHOW!
Thanks to ALL of you who stopped by the GOA - UTGuns booth at the gun
show. We now have well over 1100 postcards, signed by gun owners
like you, demanding that our state legislators OPPOSE GUN CONTROL!
Legislators will be receiving these postcards by mail soon, and they won't
be able to ignore our message! We've also signed up many new activists,
and chatted with Congressman Merrill Cook, Senate candidate Greg Hawkins,
and attorney general candidate Frank Mylar.
USSC's delegate training also was successful, and many new prospective
delegates were recruited.
Meeting people, networking, talking with candidates, recruiting activists,
signing postcards and petitions, and distributing educational information
are critically important activities for those of us fighting to preserve
and restore our rights. Gun shows are our primary tool for these
activities. This is yet another reason why it's critically important
for us to DEFEAT any bills that would shut down gun shows, including HB
95 (above). It's not just about the right to sell your own property
without government interference. It's about our survival as activists,
and as a culture of gun owners.
BECOME A POSTCARD DISTRIBUTOR!
We still have postcards! These postcards are a wonderful way
to let your legislators, legislative leadership, and all anti-gun legislators
know that you want them to oppose all gun control! All that's needed
is your name and address, your signature, and the name of the legislator.
What could be easier?
If you would be willing to distribute postcards to your friends, family,
neighbors, etc. please let me know!
MEETING WITH SEN. SPENCER
About a dozen activists met with Sen. Terry Spencer last night.
UTGuns would like to thank Sen. Spencer for his willingness to meet with
concerned citizens.
Many people have asked why Sen. Spencer is sponsoring so much bad legislation. We now have an answer. The chair of a committee is REQUIRED to sponsor legislation passed by an interim committee. So since SB 79 was passed by the Judiciary interim committee, Sen. Spencer must sponsor it in the Senate Judiciary Committee, or surrender his committee chair.
As you know, SB 79 was pulled by Sen. Spencer and divided into SB 72 (prohibited persons) and SB 153 (revocation of rights for misdemeanors). Sen. Spencer is pushing SB 72. SB 153 is currently being held in committee. Spencer did not say whether this bill would be "held" indefinitely, or whether it would be heard later in the session.
Sen. Spencer (who is an attorney) offered information, opinions
and interpretation on several issues.
1. Harmonizing with federal law. Sen. Spencer interprets the
Supremacy Clause to mean that all laws and statutes are part of the Constitution
until the Supreme Court declares them unconstitutional. By this rationale,
he is obligated to uphold even bad laws.
2. Spencer says Utah is required to pass laws to conform with federal
law, and that if it doesn't, the federal government will sue the state.
When asked about Supreme Court rulings saying that the federal government
may not force states to implement or enforce federal laws, (notably Printz
vs. US), Spencer said he had not read them. Spencer also did not
see any reason why Utah should resist this sort of federal tyranny and
insist on an independent legislature.
3. The US Constitution: Spencer believes the Constitution says
what the Supreme Court says it does and that it does not prohibit gun control.
4. The Utah Constitution: The Utah Constitution states: "The
individual right of the people to keep and bear arms for security and defense
of self, family, others, property, or the state, as well as for other lawful
purposes shall not be infringed; but nothing herein shall prevent the Legislature
from defining the lawful use of arms." Spencer says the words "use"
and "bear" are synonymous, and that the legislature may therefore regulate
carrying a firearm. This defies the English language, logic and common
sense. How can he claim the Constitution says that the right to bear
arms shall not be infringed AND that the legislature can infringe upon
that right at will?
5. Utah state law: Spencer says that Utah law is "interpreted
by the Attorney General", currently Jan Graham. So whatever Graham
says is the law, is, in his opinion, the law.
6. Sen. Spencer says there are TWO UEA/PTA ballot initiatives currently
collecting signatures, the "Safe to Learn, Safe to Worship" initiative
that we all know about and a new initiative that would amend the Constitution
to ban all guns in schools and churches. But there's a problem with
this. Only one initiative has been filed, according to the Utah State
web site. And only the LEGISLATURE may propose constitutional amendments.
(Article 23, Section 1)
7. Sen. Spencer did say he would be willing to amend SB 72S1 to provide
that the bill will cease to be in effect if the Brady Act is repealed or
overturned.
Sen. Spencer doesn't seem to realize that his job is to represent the
people, to uphold the US and Utah Constitutions, or even to understand
that he has a moral, if not legal, obligation to do what's right.
He seems to believe that his job is to "go along to get along", to do what
Gov. Leavitt, Jan Graham, and others tell him, and that principles and
individual responsibility have little, if any, role in his job as a senator.
The people of his district, and of Utah, deserve better.
NEW! CANDIDATE INFORMATION!
UTGuns believes that electing pro-gun, pro-liberty officials to public
office is essential to our Constitutional Republic. Therefore we
will be making information about candidate available to our readers.
We will allow each pro-gun candidate for state-wide or federal office to post an announcement of candidacy so that interested persons can learn about them, or even volunteer to help. UTGuns does NOT endorse candidates and no information about candidates should be considered an endorsement. It is YOUR responsibility to investigate candidates and decide whom you will support.
UTGuns is also distributing questionnaires to candidates for state-wide, federal, and state legislative offices. We will make answers to these questions available for your information.
If you are, or know, a candidate who would like to participate, please
ask the candidate (or his staff) to contact me at this email address.
Please keep calling and writing to legislators! Your hard work is paying off, but we can't afford to let up on legislators yet!
Sarah
Leg-alerts is written and distributed by Sarah Thompson, M.D. All information contained in these alerts is the responsibility of the author, unless otherwise attributed.
Leg-alerts can also be found at UTGuns, http://www.UTguns.freeservers.com. Please check out the new site!
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