From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #205 Reply-To: utah-firearms-digest Sender: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk utah-firearms-digest Friday, February 16 2001 Volume 02 : Number 205 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 10:32:30 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Fw: [UTGOA] URGENT! CCW fee hearing TODAY! PLEASE READ AND MAKE A CALL NOW. We are very close to killing the ccw fee increases that have been sneaked into the appropriations bill. We have legislators committed to making and supporting a motion that will kill this sneaky increase and allow us all the chance to study it and do it right in the future. One legislator we need who is still holding out is Rep. Bigelow. His contact info this morning is in the following message and he may also be called at 801-538-1029 today. Please call him. Remember to be polite. You can also be very brief, leaving a simple message to "Please support Rep. Thompson's motion to reconsider concealed weapons fee increases. Thank you." If you are delegate, precinct officer, or just registered voter in Rep. Bigelow's district, please mention that as well. Thank you. ================================================================== Charles C. Hardy Utah Email Coordinator--Women Against Gun Control - --------- Forwarded message ---------- CCW fee hearing today! Last week, Rep. Gary Cox proposed that permit renewal fees and instructor renewal fees be raised from $10 to $35, an increase of 250%. The Criminal Justice Appropriations committee approved these fees last week, although many committee members say that the schedule was very busy and they had no idea what they were voting for. In response to your calls and emails, several legislators have agreed to support a motion that these fee increases by reconsidered. Rep. Mike Thompson will be making the motion today. What you must do - NOW! Call the following legislators and ask them to support Rep. Thompson's motion to reconsider the fee increases. The problems with the fee increases are: 1. 250% increases are unreasonable and should never be done without public comment. 2. The Legislative Audit does not justify such huge increases. 3. The Legislative Audit said that funds for BCI should come from the General Fund AND fee increases, not just fee increases. 4. No one has had time to study the Legislative Audit carefully and the raw data has not even been released so we can verify its accuracy. 5. While BCI did request fee increases, they were not involved in this process, and learned of this proposal only after it was passed. 6. Gun rights organizations and concealed carry instructors were not invited to participate in the review process. 7. Rep. Cox bypassed the usual legislative review process to sneak this into an appropriations bill after it was defeated by standing committees several years in a row. 8. Many legislators were apparently unaware that they were voting in fee increases. Please CALL the following legislators at the Capitol NOW. Senators can be reached at 801-538-1035. Representatives can be reached at 801-538-1029. Sen. D. Chris Buttars, dbuttars@le.state.ut.us Rep. Ron Bigelow, rbigelow@le.state.ut.us Sen. Peter C. Knudson, pknudson@le.state.ut.us Rep. Paul Ray, pray@le.state.ut.us Rep. Mike Thompson, mthompson@le.state.ut.us Your message (email or phone) can be short and sweet: "Please support Rep. Thompson's motion to reconsider concealed carry fee increases. Thank you." If possible, please plan to attend this meeting! 2 PM, Room 405. The room will be packed with law enforcement personnel, and we need some pro-gun folks to show how important this is to us. Thanks! Copyright 2001, Utah Gun Owners Alliance, Inc. and Sarah Thompson PO Box 1185 Sandy, UT 84091 801-566-1625 http://www.utgoa.org Director@utgoa.org PLEASE SUPPORT UTAH GUN OWNERS ALLIANCE! JOIN US TODAY! Did someone forward this to you? Please SUBSCRIBE NOW! That way you'll receive our FREE alerts as soon as they're released. During the legislative session, we send urgent, time limited alerts. Don't risk missing important information because someone else neglected to forward important information. Our alerts are low volume and average less than one alert per day. To subscribe to the UTGOA list, send a blank email to utgoa-subscribe@egroups.com or use the form on our web site, http://www.utgoa.org. For more information, see http://www.egroups.com/group/UTGOA. UTGOA is written and distributed by, Utah Gun Owners Alliance, Inc. www.utgoa.org, and Sarah Thompson, M.D. All information contained in these alerts is the responsibility of the author, unless otherwise attributed. Permission is granted for distribution of these alerts so long as no changes are made, UTGOA is clearly credited, and this message is left intact. Archives of the UTGOA alerts can be found at: http://www.utgoa.org/cgi-bin/alerts Utah Gun Owners Alliance, Inc. is a Utah non-profit corporation. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: UTGOA-unsubscribe@egroups.com ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 18:09:29 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Legislative Update Good news. The Huge CCW fee increase that Rep. Gary Cox sneaked into the appropriations bill after failing to pass that increase (and other measures intended to increase the cost and difficulty of getting and keeping a CCW permit) the last couple of years using stand alone bills was removed from that appropriation bill. Watch for it to be introduced later in the session using one of the remaining "boxcar" bills. Thank you to all of you who took the time to make phone calls to committee members. They may not seem receptive to your call, but when they get enough calls, they do vote properly, even if they aren't really happy about it. Time to support a good bill. Rep. Mike Thompson's HB 264 - Gun Safety Law Amendments which would require that basic ("Eddie Eagle" type) gun safety instruction be given to grade school children and historical / legal instructions on guns be given to high school seniors as well as providing optional (with parental consent) hands-on firearms training for seniors is scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee tomorrow, Tuesday February 13th, at 4:00 pm in room 129 at the capital. This is a good and an important bill. Schools are already allowed to provide basic safety training, but--surprise, surprise--very few do. While railroad (TRAX) tracks, power lines, and crime (don't accept rides from strangers) safety all merit some time and effort by our schools, it seems that some modest and basic instructions on avoiding injuries should a gun be found is just too much trouble for them. This bill faces an uphill battle. Liberals--in both parties--are not going to support it simply because it deals with guns without demonizing them or putting anyone in jail. Conservatives are hesitant to support it (they say) because it imposes another mandate on local school districts. Legislators of all stripes need to hear from us. This is not about guns or mandates. It is about the safety of children. If possible, please attend the hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, at 4:00 pm, room 129. This evening, please take a few minutes and call members of the House Education Committee. Let them know you want them to support HB 264 "for the sake of the children." :) Remember to be polite, but firm and clear. If you are a constituent of any committee members, please call that member first, letting them know you are a constituent. Then (or if none of them are your rep) please call other members. I've not bothered to paste in home address so regardless of your area code or that of the legislator, any of these could be long distance for you and require 1+area code+number. Try it without the one first, then add the 1 if you need it. Email is better than nothing, but not nearly as good as a personal call. Do both if possible. Or, at least call a couple and email the rest. I suggest the use of the blind carbon copy (bcc) field when emailing more than one and using a generic greeting like "Honorable Representative". Be sure to include your name and phone number and/or postal address in your email. Cut and paste email addresses and email body (if you'd like to use it) follow the committee members. Committee members are: Rep. Margaret Dayton (R) , Chair mdayton@le.state.ut.us 801-221-0623 Rep. Loraine T. Pace (R) , Vice Chair lpace@le.state.ut.us 435-753-6154 Rep. Jeff Alexander (R) jeffa@alexanders.com, 801-375-1092 jalexand@le.state.ut.us Rep. Duane E. Bourdeaux (D) dbourdea@le.state.ut.us 801-596-8784 Rep. Judy Ann Buffmire (D) jbuffmir@le.state.ut.us 801-266-1862 Rep. James A. Ferrin (R) jferrin@le.state.ut.us 801-224-6823 Rep. James R. Gowans (D) jgowans@le.state.ut.us 435-882-2120 Rep. David L. Hogue (R) dhogue@le.state.ut.us 801-254-1668 Rep. Bradley T. Johnson (R) bjohnson@le.state.ut.us 435-529-3227 Rep. Merlynn T. Newbold (R) mnewbold@le.state.ut.us 801-254-0142 Rep. LaWanna Shurtliff (D) lshurtli@le.state.ut.us 801-391-7387 Rep. Matt Throckmorton (R) mthrockmor@aol.com 801-489-8342 mthrockm@le.state.ut.us Rep. A. Lamont Tyler (R) atyler@le.state.ut.us, 801-272-1218 lamont.tyler@m.cc.utah.edu ==========cut and paste addresses=========== mdayton@le.state.ut.us; lpace@le.state.ut.us; jeffa@alexanders.com; jalexand@le.state.ut.us; dbourdea@le.state.ut.us; jbuffmir@le.state.ut.us; jferrin@le.state.ut.us; jgowans@le.state.ut.us; dhogue@le.state.ut.us; bjohnson@le.state.ut.us; mnewbold@le.state.ut.us; lshurtli@le.state.ut.us; mthrockmor@aol.com; mthrockm@le.state.ut.us; atyler@le.state.ut.us; lamont.tyler@m.cc.utah.edu =============end cut and paste addresses============ =============cut and paste letter==================== Subject: Please support HB 264 - Gun Safety Law Amendments Dear Honorable Representative, Please support HB 264 -- Gun Safety Law Amendments and pass it out of the House Education Committee favorably. This bill will require that public grade schools provide a very basic course of safety instruction in the event a child or his/her playmate should find a gun. The children will be taught to "Don't touch, leave the area, and tell an adult." They will also be taught how to teach this information to others. High Schools would be required to provide basic instruction regarding historical and legal issues regarding firearm ownership to seniors. Those seniors would also have the option, with parental consent, to receive basic hands-on use of a firearm under the strict supervision of a police officer or other qualified instructor. Regardless of your position on private firearms ownership or legislative mandates to schools, the fact remains that most homes in Utah have a gun and almost no local districts have chosen to offer this essential education even though they are currently free and encouraged to do so. Some children will happen upon a gun at some point in their lives and there is simply no reason for any child to be injured--or to accidently injure someone else--because they are ignorant concerning basic gun safety. Children are currently being MIS-educated concerning the dangers of guns via video games, movies, television, and other media. It is our duty to make sure children are properly educated in this area so they can avoid injuries. This is no different than the safety training currently and routinely given about railroad (or TRAX) tracks, water ditches, power lines, etc. This program would utilize community volunteers and present almost no cost to local school districts. Please let me know whether you plan to support this common sense bill to prevent childhood accidents with firearms. Sincerely, Your name Your phone number Your address ================================================================== Charles C. Hardy Utah Email Coordinator--Women Against Gun Control - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 22:48:14 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Town meeting planned for HD 50 Rep. Merlynn Newbold, HD 50, has scheduled a town meeting. If you live in her district (or even if you don't but are concerned about / interested in the issues that come before the committees on which she sits--like the education committee that will vote on Tuition Tax Credits) please plan to attend. It is scheduled for Saturday, February 24th at 4:00 pm in the South Jordan pubic library. That is very late in the session, so if you want to give her input on bills she is likely to see before then, contact her directly. However, it is soon enough to give her some good guidance on what we expect and hope for in the final hours of the session when a lot of bad stuff can slip through. It would be great if she heard from several of us that we'd like her to do two things: 1--Vote against any bill she hasn't personnaly read in its final form. 2--From the floor object when unanamous consent is requested to waive reading of said bills before a vote is taken. Please plan to attend. I'll update if I hear of any changes. - ---------------- Charles Hardy ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 23:26:34 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Gun safety bill held in committee It looks like Rep. Thompson's HB 264 that would require grade schools to teach basic gun safety met all the expected opposition and then some. Several amendments were proposed and it looked like the opposition had plenty of votes to kill the bill outright. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Rep. Duane Bourdoux who saved us by moving to hold the bill. This gives Rep. Thompson some time to make a few minor technical changes to blunt the critisism of the educational establishment. The bill should be heard again in the near future. If you haven't yet contacted the house education committee members on this bill now is the time to do so. If you have, now is the time to contact them, ask them where they stand on the bill after hearing it, and let them know you expect them to support it. Education committee member contact info listed below. Support for and oppossition to this bill really does cross party lines and the usual conservative/liberal labels so don't hesitate to contact those you think would normally be opposed to gun issues or neglect contacting those you would normally think are very supportive of gun issues. Remember, this isn't about guns. It is about childhood safety. We in the RKBA community are frequently criticized (unjstly) as not caring about the safety of children when we oppose mandatory trigger locks and such. NOW is the time to make it clear we fully support the safety of children. Rememeber, "You can't childproof every gun. But you can 'gun-proof' every child with just a little education." House Education Committee members: Alexander, jalexand@le.state.ut.us, 801-375-1092 Bourdeaux, dbourdea@le.state.ut.us, 801-596-8784 Buffmire, jbuffmir@le.state.ut.us, 801-266-1862 Dayton, mdayton@le.state.ut.us, 801-221-0623 Ferrin, jferrin@le.state.ut.us, 801-224-6823 Gowans, jgowans@le.state.ut.us, 435-882-2120 Hogue, dhogue@le.state.ut.us, 801-254-1668 Johnson, bjohnson@le.state.ut.us, 435-529-3227 Newbold, mnewbold@le.state.ut.us, 801-254-0142 Pace, lpace@le.state.ut.us, 435-753-6154 Shurtliff, lshurtli@le.state.ut.us, 801-479-0289 Throckmorton, mthrockm@le.state.ut.us, 801-489-8342 Tyler, atyler@le.state.ut.us, 801-272-1218 REMEMBER! Be polite, be firm. Do not engage in threats and name-calling. DO let legislators know that this is very important to you and will likely affect your future support for them. Cut and past email addresses: mdayton@le.state.ut.us; lpace@le.state.ut.us; jeffa@alexanders.com; jalexand@le.state.ut.us; dbourdea@le.state.ut.us; jbuffmir@le.state.ut.us; jferrin@le.state.ut.us; jgowans@le.state.ut.us; dhogue@le.state.ut.us; bjohnson@le.state.ut.us; mnewbold@le.state.ut.us; lshurtli@le.state.ut.us; mthrockmor@aol.com; mthrockm@le.state.ut.us; atyler@le.state.ut.us; lamont.tyler@m.cc.utah.edu ========Cut and paste email body if you'd like to use it============== Subject: SUPPORT HB 264 - Gun Safety Law Amendments Honorable members of the House Education Committee: I am writing to ask you to support HB 264, Gun Safety Law Amendments This bill is not about "guns in schools", or pushing a pro-gun (or anti-gun) agenda. It is not a partisan issue. It is not even about legislative mandates to schools. It's about protecting our children, something we all agree is important. The truth is that even though current law allows the teaching of gun safety and even though numerous individuals and organizations have offered to provide materials and qualified instructors, most Utah Public schools refuse to teach gun safety - even though it's really no different than holding fire drills, teaching safety around power lines or railroad tracks, or teaching water safety. The goal is to keep children safe should they encounter a firearm. I wish schools would teach this lifesaving information on a voluntary basis, but they don't. Many parents don't know basic firearms safety, and aren't able to their children. And too often, these parents trust mechanical solutions like trigger locks (which have a very high incidence of failure and cannot be counted on to be in place when a criminal discards a gun near a playground), instead of providing their children with survival skills. Please SUPPORT HB 264, Gun Safety Law Amendments. If it saves only one child, won't it be worth it? I consider this a high priority bill, and will be interested to see how you vote. Thank you for your attention. YOUR NAME YOUR ADDRESS ==========end email body==================================== - ---------------- Charles Hardy ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 09:12:14 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Fw: SAF: Responses Refuting Bellesiles Claims - ---------------- Charles Hardy - --------- Forwarded message ---------- SAF: Responses Refuting Bellesiles Claims SAF has put together a good web page of responses countering Bellesile's claims that guns were rarely owned or used in pre-civil war America. http://www.saf.org/pub/rkba/general/GunsInEarlyAmerica.htm Included are links to critical responses by Cramer, Malcom, Halbrook, Lindgren and Lee, Stromberg, Suprynowicz, NRA, About.com, and even the Washington Post. It also has some quotes from founders such as: "If this now flourishing City, and greatly improving Colony, is destroy'd and ruin'd, it will not be for want of Numbers of Inhabitants able to bear Arms in its defence. 'Tis computed that we have at least (exclusive of Quakers) 60,000 Fighting Men, acquainted with Fire-Arms, many of them Hunters and Marksmen, hardy and bold." Benjamin Franklin (1747), B.F. Papers, vol. III, p.202 "I enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775, until November, 1777, since which there has been no event of any consequence... I think that upon the whole it has been about one half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in others less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with his gun from his infancy." Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778. More at the site. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 09:03:20 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Fw: [UTGOA] Bill of Rights, Gun Safety, More bills to watch The latest for UTGOA including more info on the gun safety bill. - ---------------- Charles Hardy - --------- Forwarded message ---------- Bill of Rights Day Gun Safety Education Important changes: HB 266 and HB 95 Constitutional Convention School Surveys CCW Reciprocity BILL OF RIGHTS DAY - HB 133, HJR 10 - Philpot Good news! The two Bill of Rights Day Bills, HB 133 and HJR 10 passed the House unanimously today! HB 133 was amended to also create Constitution Day on Sept. 17, an amendment we support. Utah Gun Owners Alliance would like to thank Rep. Philpot and the members of the House for their support of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. These bills will now go to the Senate. Please let YOUR Senator know that you would like him/her to support HB 133 and HJR 10. GUN SAFETY EDUCATION - HB 264 - Thompson HB 264, Gun Safety Law Amendments was debated by the House Education Committee today. The bill met with a lot of resistance. It was amended to make the secondary school safety education optional. (The amendment is not yet available.) There was a lot of opposition to "mandating" safety education. However, there are already provisions for voluntary safety education in place - and they're generally ignored. UTGOA doesn't understand the objection to teaching something that will save children's lives - especially when we mandate so many other programs that are far less important. Isn't it worth spending an hour or two to keep our children safe? The committee voted to hold the bill to give Rep. Thompson a chance to revise the bill to deal with some of the objections. Please contact members of the House Education committee (see previous alert for their names) and encourage them to support HB 264. If they voice objections to the bill, ask them to tell you specifically what they think needs to be done so that they will support the bill. And please let UTGOA know what responses you get. Thanks to those of you who took the time to attend the hearing. CHANGES Utah Gun Owners Alliance has changed its position on the following bills, due the changes in the bill language. HB 266 - RESTORATION OF RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS - THROCKMORTON UTGOA position: OPPOSE HB 266 apparently intends to make it possible for those who have been committed to a psychiatric institution to petition to regain their gun rights. However, as written, the bill would do nothing, since it depends on the federal government to fund such petitions at the federal level. In addition, the bill has been amended to provide that a person must not be receiving treatment or taking any medication in order to regain his rights. UTGOA is not quite sure why someone who recognizes that he has an illness and cooperates with treatment should be punished for being responsible. We're not sure why someone should be forced to choose between the right to self-defense and necessary medical treatment. People who are under psychiatric care and are taking medications are currently permitted to work as teachers, doctors, lawyers, social workers, and legislators. Why should they be forbidden to own guns? UTGOA believes that anyone who is too dangerous to own a gun should not be permitted to serve in ANY position of public trust. If a person can prove he's not a danger to others, what difference does it make what medications he takes? And if he can't prove he's not a danger to others, whether or not he takes medications is irrelevant. This bill will not help restore gun rights, and it will open the door to barring anyone who's ever received mental health treatment from owning a gun. HB 266 has passed the House and is now in the Senate. Please ask YOUR Senator to OPPOSE HB 266, 1st substitute. HB 95 - REGULATIONS OF PAWN SHOPS - MURRAY This bill has been substituted and we are currently reviewing it to see if it addresses our objections. MORE BILLS TO WATCH! HJR 15: RESOLUTION RESCINDING THE CALL FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION - FIFE UTGOA position: SUPPORT HJR 15 "urges the repealing, rescinding and superseding of all applications to Congress for a constitutional convention". It also urges other states to do the same. The Utah legislature has previously voted to support a constitutional convention. Such a convention would make it possible to rewrite the Constitution completely and would pose a serious threat to our entire system of government. We would also almost certainly see attempts to remove the Second Amendment. Our existing procedures for amending the Constitution have worked well for over 200 years. Rewriting the entire document is neither necessary nor advisable. HJR 15 will be heard by the House Political Subdivisions Committee on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 8 AM, Room 223. Please let committee members know that you would like them to SUPPORT HJR 15. Committee members: Rep. David L. Hogue, Chair Rep. David N. Cox, Vice Chair Rep. Sheryl L. Allen Rep. Ralph Becker Rep. Stephen D. Clark Rep. Fred J. Fife Rep. Joseph G. Murray Rep. Darin G. Peterson Rep. LaWanna "Lou" Shurtliff Rep. David Ure Rep. Max W. Young Contact info is at: http://www.utgoa.org/resources/legcontact01.html HB 355: PUBLIC SCHOOLS SURVEYS AMENDMENTS - KING UTGOA position: OPPOSE HB 355 will allow government schools to question children about "matters related to youth violence, or to the use of alcohol, drugs or tobacco" without parental consent. In other words, they will be able to ask your children if you have guns at home, if they're loaded, how they're stored, etc. - without your permission. The school would have to send a letter to let you know they plan to do a survey and if you want to see it, you'll have to go to the school. If the letter gets lost, or if you're a non-custodial parent, you're out of luck. Earlier today we heard over and over again that no student should be "forced" to learn gun safety, and that it should require a note from parents to participate. If teaching life-saving skills requires parental permission, shouldn't the same hold true for participation in intrusive surveys? We were also told that teachers are so terribly overworked that they can't possibly find time to include one hour of gun safety education without seriously affecting our children's academic progress. If there's not even an hour to save kids' lives, how is there time to administer surveys that have no direct benefit to children at all? Except in the case of child abuse, there is no excuse for questioning children without parental consent. And precious school time should be devoted to education, not surveys. HB 355 is currently in House Rules - where we hope it stays! Please let your Representative know that you would like him/her to support parental rights and OPPOSE HB 355. HB 376: CONCEALED WEAPONS PERMIT HOLDERS - RECIPROCITY is now available online at http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2001/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0376.htm. HB 376 will require that Utah honor carry permits from any state or county. It will also require that BCI actively request that other states recognize Utah permits. UTGOA enthusiastically supports this bill. It has not yet been assigned to a committee; we'll let you know as soon as we do. Please thank Rep. Donnelson for sponsoring HB 376 (gdonnelson@le.state.ut.us) and let YOUR legislators know you expect them to vote YES. Copyright 2001, Utah Gun Owners Alliance, Inc. and Sarah Thompson PO Box 1185 Sandy, UT 84091 801-566-1625 http://www.utgoa.org Director@utgoa.org PLEASE SUPPORT UTAH GUN OWNERS ALLIANCE! JOIN US TODAY! Did someone forward this to you? Please SUBSCRIBE NOW! That way you'll receive our FREE alerts as soon as they're released. During the legislative session, we send urgent, time limited alerts. Don't risk missing important information because someone else neglected to forward important information. Our alerts are low volume and average less than one alert per day. To subscribe to the UTGOA list, send a blank email to utgoa-subscribe@egroups.com or use the form on our web site, http://www.utgoa.org. For more information, see http://www.egroups.com/group/UTGOA. UTGOA is written and distributed by, Utah Gun Owners Alliance, Inc. www.utgoa.org, and Sarah Thompson, M.D. All information contained in these alerts is the responsibility of the author, unless otherwise attributed. Permission is granted for distribution of these alerts so long as no changes are made, UTGOA is clearly credited, and this message is left intact. Archives of the UTGOA alerts can be found at: http://www.utgoa.org/cgi-bin/alerts Utah Gun Owners Alliance, Inc. is a Utah non-profit corporation. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 11:04:15 -0700 From: "Scott Bergeson" Subject: Father Murphy and the Million Mom March Father Murphy and the Million Mom March - ---------- by David Dieteman Today's gun control advocates should listen to "Boulavogue," an Irish folk song about a priest who convinced his parishioners to surrender their arms to the English, then led them in rebellion with a few remaining weapons when he realized his mistake. (02/14/01) http://www.lewrockwell.com/dieteman/dieteman19.html - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 15:36:29 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Fw: HJR 15 (pro U.S. Constitution) cmtee hearing Thurs 2-15-01 8am rm 223 Of importance to anyone who values any or all of our bill of rights. ================================================================== Charles C. Hardy Utah Email Coordinator--Women Against Gun Control Dear friend, As many of you know, a Constitutional Convention, also known as a ConCon, (vrs. a Constitutional Amendment) would have the power to re-write the entire U.S. Constitution. There has never been an Article V Constitutional Convention since our current U.S. Constitution was ratified. Sadly, Utah is one of several states with a standing call for a ConCon. Realizing the threat to the U.S. Constitution that a ConCon poses, several states have recently repealed their calls for a ConCon. HJR 15 would repeal all of Utah's calls for a ConCon. HJR 15 will put Utah on the books as being pro-Constitution instead of being on the books as anti-Constitution (calling for a convention implies we need a new Constitution). Please attend the House Standing Committee hearing on HJR 15 tomorrow (Thursday, February 15, 2001) at 8:00 am, in RM 223 (in the State Capitol Building), if at all possible, in support of HJR 15. I have included a flyer below with some key points about why HJR 15 should be approved and Utah's calls for a ConCon repealed. Thanks! - --Carlton CITIZEN ALERT Dear Citizen of Utah, please ask your Legislators to rescind (invalidate) all calls for a Constitutional Convention, which still remain on their books. Article V of our Constitution allows amendments to be made two ways. The only method which has been used since 1787 requires a "yes" vote from two thirds of both the House and the Senate, plus ratification (approval) by three quarters of the states. This procedure is reasonably safe. The other way, a Constitutional Convention (sometimes called an Article V convention or a Con Con) is dangerous. Recently, several State Legislatures, hoping to bye-pass Congress and to push through a single-issue amendment, such as a Balanced Budget Amendment, have applied to Congress for a convention. It is an erroneous belief that state Legislatures can control the convention and limit it to a single issue of their choosing. Let’s look at why a Constitutional Convention can be very dangerous. Although, the states may have asked for it, they have absolutely no control over it. Article V gives the states no power to: - -Decide which topics will be considered, or limit it to a one-issue convention. - -Choose who the delegates to the convention will be, or how they will be chosen. - -Write the desired amendment(s). - -Object, or withdraw, if the convention does not do what they intended it to do. Congress is given a blank check in choosing: - -Where the convention will be held. - -How many delegates the states may have, and how they will be chosen. (Note: There is no constitutional guarantee that every state will have at least one delegate.) Now – The most dangerous part Once the delegates are chosen, only the Convention is empowered by Article V to determine the number and content of the proposed amendments. The Convention is not bound by any limitations from the States, Congress or the people. Chief Justice Burger said, "No one tells a Con Con what to do.. Its powers are unlimited." Once the Convention is called, there is no way to stop wholesale changes to our constitution or Bill of Rights. The delegates may use their power to re-write the rules, the Constitution, or the means of ratifying their proposals. Chief Justice Burger further stated, "After a Convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the Convention if we don’t like its agenda…..A new Convention could plunge our Nation into constitutional confusion and confrontation at every turn… and I am glad to see states rescinding their previous resolutions requesting a Convention". All applications to Congress for a Con Con remain active on their books, regardless of subject matter. If 34 states apply for a convention, for any reason, Congress must call it. 32 states have already applied. The good news is that recently four states (Idaho is one) have rescinded all their applications. It is time for Utah to do the same. Please call your elected state representatives and ask them to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill to rescind Utah’s calls for a Con Con. State Rep:_____________________________________________________________________ _ State Senate:__________________________________________________________________ __ For more info & documents call: Kay Garske 801-466-2248 ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 11:21:08 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: Resistance to Gun Safety Bill The following is an excerpt of Rep. L. Pace's response to my inquiry regarding her position on HB 264, gun safety education. Please try to contact Rep. Pace and encourage her to support this important bill. Please do not include her original response to me in any email you send, but please do contact her. Please be polite but firm, and if you are a constituent, let her know you consider this bill critical to how you cast your votes in the future. Loraine T. Pace District 4 Party (R) Mailing Address: 435 East 900 North Logan, Utah 84321 Phone: (home) 435-753-6154 (fax) 435-753-5013 Email: ================================================================== Charles C. Hardy Utah Email Coordinator--Women Against Gun Control Although the issue is of great importance, it is difficult to mandate one more thing for the teachers to fit into their schedules to have taught. There are good pamphlets generated that could be made available to parents to take care of that teaching in the home. After school or weekend workshops would also be an alternative. Rep. Pace ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 11:49:56 -0700 From: "Scott Bergeson" Subject: URLs Some of these are reluctant to load today. Soccer moms vs. soccer moms in battle over guns - ---------- In Michigan, authoritarian soccer moms opposed to the right to bear arms are being fought to a stand-still by the only opponents with the clout to take them on -- other soccer moms. Pro-freedom women threatened to boycott a soccer league if the "Million Moms" didn't stop using it as a platform for their anti-gun agenda. (02/15/01) http://www.freep.com/news/metro/moms14_20010214.htm Do gun laws cause Maryland's sky-high crime? - ---------- The Maryland Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group, charges that Maryland's number one nationwide ranking for armed robberies is a result of restrictive gun laws that "promote victim disarmament." (02/15/01) http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21722 Zero tolerance or hidden agenda? - ---------- by Dean L. Kalahar Schools across America have jumped on the "zero tolerance" bandwagon in a knee-jerk reaction to the tragedy at Columbine ... and as a weapon for special interest groups to advance their political cause. (02/14/01) http://www.educationnews.org/inside_the_classroom.htm - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 22:31:56 -0700 From: charles hardy Subject: FW: Special Event Notice One last, quick reminder about Eddie Eagle at the Safe Kids Expo tomorrow, Saturday. - ---------------- Charles Hardy - --------- Forwarded message ---------- SAFE KIDS EXPO Please bring your children to the Safe Kids Expo on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the new South Towne Exposition Center at 9575 So. State St., Sandy, Utah 84070. The Safe Kids Expo runs from 10-5. Special guest star is Eddie Eagle, and Eddie Eagle gun safety coloring books and other info will be available. There will be info on a wide variety of safety issues, not just gun safety. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #205 ***********************************