My friends:The list follows separately. Note that not all of the bills are necessarily bad. OTOH, a few of them don't seem to address guns at all, which could lead to bad laws being passed because, for example, who cares about "cocaine kingpins"...?
The gun lists on the internet have been full of information about H.R.
45, a bill by former Black Panther and Chicago Congressman Bobby Rush that would mark the greatest federal intrusion into gun owners homes in our history.
But we need to put this in perspective.
H.R. 45 was NOT the first gun bill introduced in the 111th Congress.
That honor goes to H.R. 17 by Maryland Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, aone of the strongest proponents of the Second Amendment in Congress.
Below is a list of the thirteen firearm-related bills currently filed in Congress. None are even scheduled for a hearing at this time.
Five are clearly pro-gun, two clearly anti-gun, and the remainder are bills primarily of a technical nature. It's interesting that neither of the anti-gun bills has any co-sponsors. ALL of the pro-gun bills have multiple sponsors.
To be sure, we all need to remain alert. The 111th Congress is NOT friendly to gun owners (although individual members certainly are), and the White House is equally hostile. Eternal vigilance remains the price of liberty.
To keep an eye on bills filed in Congress, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and type "firearms" into the "Search" box.
And while you're at it, keep a sharp eye on your state legislatures.
This is where the infamous "ammunition accountability act" was filed in
18 state legislatures during the 2008 session, and where it sits in five legislatures (GA, HI, IL, NJ, NY) in the 2009 session.
Joe W
gun lobbyist
* 1.* H.R.17: To protect the right to obtain firearms for security, and to use firearms in defense of self, family, or home, and to provide for the enforcement of such right.
*Sponsor:* Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6]
(introduced 1/6/2009)
Cosponsors (8)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status:Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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* 2.* H.R.45:To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes.
*Sponsor:* Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1]
(introduced 1/6/2009)
*Cosponsors* (None)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status:Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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* 3.* H.R.197:To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State.
*Sponsor:* Rep Stearns, Cliff[FL-6]
(introduced 1/6/2009)
Cosponsors(12)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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* 4.* H.R.256: To enhance Federal enforcement of hate crimes, and for other purposes.
*Sponsor:* Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18]
(introduced 1/7/2009) *Cosponsors* (None)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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* 5.* H.R.257: To prevent children's access to firearms.
*Sponsor:* Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18]
(introduced 1/7/2009) *Cosponsors* (None)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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* 6.* H.R.265:To target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
*Sponsor:* Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila[TX-18]
(introduced 1/7/2009) Cosponsors (15)
*Committees: *House Judiciary; House Energy and Commerce *Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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* 7.* H.R.442:To provide an amnesty period during which veterans and their family members can register certain firearms in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, and for other purposes.
*Sponsor:* Rep Rehberg, Denny [MT]
(introduced 1/9/2009) Cosponsors(9)
*Committees: *House Judiciary; House Ways and Means *Latest Major Action:* 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 8.* H.R.495: To authorize additional resources to identify and eliminate illicit sources of firearms smuggled into Mexico for use by violent drug trafficking organizations, and for other purposes.
*Sponsor:* Rep Rodriguez, Ciro D. [TX-23]
(introduced 1/14/2009) Cosponsors (4)
*Committees: *House Judiciary; House Foreign Affairs *Latest Major Action:* 1/14/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status:Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 9.* H.R.623: To provide for greater judicial discretion in sentencing for certain firearms offenses committed in exceptional circumstances.
*Sponsor:* Rep Reyes, Silvestre [TX-16]
(introduced 1/21/2009) *Cosponsors* (None)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 1/21/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status:Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*10.* H.R.675: To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide police officers, criminal investigators, and game law enforcement officers of the Department of Defense with authority to execute warrants, make arrests, and carry firearms.
*Sponsor:* Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51]
introduced 1/26/2009) *Cosponsors* (None)
*Committees: *House Armed Services; House Judiciary *Latest Major Action:* 1/26/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*11.* H.R.1074: To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to update certain procedures applicable to commerce in firearms and remove certain Federal restrictions on interstate firearms transactions.
*Sponsor:* Rep Scalise, Steve [LA-1]
(introduced 2/13/2009) *Cosponsors* (None)
*Committees: *House Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/13/2009 Referred to House committee. Status:
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*12.* S.205: A bill to authorize additional resources to identify and eliminate illicit sources of firearms smuggled into Mexico for use by violent drug trafficking organizations, and for other purposes.
*Sponsor:* Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM]
(introduced 1/12/2009) Cosponsors (6)
*Committees: *Senate Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 1/12/2009 Referred to Senate committee.
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*13.* S.371: A bill to amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to allow citizens who have concealed carry permits from the State in which they reside to carry concealed firearms in another State that grants concealed carry permits, if the individual complies with the laws of the State.
*Sponsor:* Sen Thune, John [SD]
introduced 2/3/2009 Cosponsors (17)
*Committees: *Senate Judiciary
*Latest Major Action:* 2/3/2009 Referred to Senate committee.
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gonna have to keep an eye on Senator Thune. Not gun bills, but check out his S.AMDT.238 to HR1 (AKA Porkulus, Spendulus, Generational Theft Act, et. al.), "To ensure that the $1 trillion spending bill is not used to expand the scope of the Federal Government by adding new spending programs" and S.AMDT.538 to HR 1, "To replace all spending and tax provisions (of HR1) with a direct rebate to all Americans filing a tax return."
2 comments:
Thank you very much for looking all of these up. I'm surprised there are so many gun-related bills before Congress.
Hopefully Congress will actually choose to open up a discussion about these bills. Now that they have passed the stimulus package, they should be able to move on to issues like this.
I saw that the Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is still asking people to give their opinion on the most important thing for Congress to do next. Then they are going to focus their efforts on getting Congress to accomplish what we actually want them to do.
What do the other readers think Congress should do? Should they work for the bills like the one proposed by Congressman Bartlett? Should they work against the bills like the one proposed by Congressman Rush? Or should they focus their efforts on completely different areas? Make sure to add your opinion so Congress can know what we want them to do next - http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/email/email4.cfm?id=200
Cool story as for me. I'd like to read more concerning that matter.
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