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The tally: Of 17 anti-gun bill, only 5 passed - and not one contained "major" gun control. Twelve anti-gun bills were defeated or never had a vote. In addition, both asset forfeiture bills went down. One pro-gun bill passed.
The list:
Anti-gun bills that passed:
HB 161: Juvenile Brady (Tyler): Unconstitutional "ex post facto" law.
Includes juvenile records in background checks.
HB 176: Weapons Restrictions for Mentally Ill (G. Cox): Deals only
with REPORTING to BCI, not prohibited persons. Requires reporting
of anyone who has EVER been committed to a mental institution, and anyone
subject to a "protective order". This information will be used, in
conjunction with other bills, to deny firearms rights.
HB 245: Safety in Public Schools (Wright): Expulsion of students who
bring guns to school. Mandatory expulsion for real guns, conditional
expulsion for toy guns. NO mandatory expulsion for violent crimes
that do not involve guns. (It is already illegal for anyone other
than a law enforcement officer or CCW permittee to bring a gun to school,
so this is unnecessary!)
HB 372 - Concealed Firearms (Garn, Cox, Waddoups): Allows BCI to revoke
certification of concealed carry instructors; makes other minor changes
to concealed carry law.
SB 72 - Restricted persons (Spencer): Unconstitutional ex post facto
law. Revokes firearms rights for life for anyone who has ever been
committed to a mental institution. Revokes rights for 7-10 years
for anyone adjudicated delinquent for a felony level offense. Revokes
rights for life for anyone in possession of a firearm and a Schedule I
controlled substance (street drug).
Anti-gun bills that were defeated:
HB 95 - Weapons Amendments (Jones) Would have mandated background
checks and registration for all private firearms transfers at gun shows.
In order to enforce this, all attendees at gun shows would have to be registered.
HB 174 - Public Safety Fee Process Revisions (Chard) Would have
allowed BCI to raise fees for background checks and permits (among others)
without legislative oversight.
HB 248 - Weapons Restrictions - Houses of Worship, Residences and Schools
(Jones) Would have banned firearms in schools, churches and private
residences unless the person carrying the firearm had prior permission
to do so.
HB 363 - Gun Restriction Amendments (G. Cox) Would have revoked
firearms rights for juveniles adjudicated delinquent for felony offenses
or anyone ever committed to a mental institution. Would have revoked
rights for nonviolent misdemeanors.
HB 383 - Revocation of Concealed Firearm Permits (Brown) Would
have outlawed open carry, as well as all shooting sports
SB 32 - Concealed Permit Holders Requirements (R. Allen) Would
have required a marksmanship test to obtain a concealed carry permit.
SB 161 - Restrictions on Weapons - Schools (Beattie) Would have
required a person lawfully carrying a firearm to report to the principal's
office when entering a school and "confess" that he was carrying a firearm.
Would have made it possible for schools to harass or dismiss employees
who chose to carry firearms.
SB 162 - Restrictions on Weapons - Churches (Beattie) Would have
required a person lawfully carrying a firearm to ask permission of a church
authority in order to do so.
Anti-gun bills that never made it to a vote:
SB 44 - Background check on Private Handgun Transfers (Peterson)
Would have required a background check and registration of all private
handgun transfers. Would have allowed local law enforcement to outlaw
private transfers.
SB 79 - Weapons Restrictions Amendments (Spencer) Would have revoked
firearms rights for a long list of misdemeanors
SB 87 - Firearms Amendments - Churches and Residences (Peterson) Would
have banned the lawful carry of firearms in churches and private residences
without prior permission
SB 153 - Criminal Penalty Amendments (Spencer) Would have revoked firearms
rights for a long list of misdemeanors
Pro-gun bills passed:
HB 199 - Limitation of Liability for Gun Manufacturers (Throckmorton)
- Prohibits frivolous lawsuits against firearms manufacturers.
Asset forfeiture bills defeated:
HB 173 - Computer forfeiture (Buckner) - Would have allowed seizure
of computer equipment and data for trivial offenses. Owner would
be required to prove his property's innocence. No provisions for
payment of legal fees for innocent owners.
HB 124 - Asset Forfeiture (Wright, Swallow) - Did not address problem
of federal adoption of forfeitures, without which other reforms are not
effective. Bill sponsors agreed to hold this bill for future study.
Misc. losses
HB 296 - Prevention of Retaliatory Lawsuits (Lockhart) Would have prevented
lawsuits designed to silence activists. The Senate repeatedly refused
to vote on this bill, so it expired at midnight.
Full voting records are not yet available. However, once they are, voting records and the UTGuns legislative ratings will be made public.
Full report on the shameful and deceitful goings on during the last hours of the session to follow! However, Rep. John Swallow deserves a LOT of credit for being the ONLY Representative trying to work WITH gun owners.
Thanks to ALL of you for your hard work, calls, letters, attendance at hearings, etc. The 2000 legislative session was a huge victory for gun owners, and YOU deserve credit! THANK YOU! Your dedication is very much appreciated!
Unfortunately, now is not the time to relax! While final ratings are not yet available, the number of solidly pro-gun, pro-rights legislators on the Hill is ZERO! If you don't want to spend another two years battling full time just to slow down the destruction of your rights, you need to get involved and help us CLEAN HOUSE (and Senate)! This is the ONLY way (or at least the only peaceful way) to restore and defend our rights!
Please take a minute NOW to go to the UTGuns Delegate information and sign-up page at http://www.utguns.freeservers.com/volunteer.html. We have good, principled, pro-gun, pro-liberty people running for office, but they need YOUR help! PLEASE join us! The rights you save will be your own!
Thanks again!
Sarah
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