Subject:  FELONY Gun Show Bill Moving Forward!!!
Date:  Wed, 11-Apr-2001 18:30:48 GMT
From:  alert@tsra.com
To:  tsra-email-list@topica.com
-- Texas State Rifle Association Email ---

Even after 130 of you showed up on March 20 for public hearing to testify against the three gun show bills, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee voted favorably yesterday to send one forward. HB 367 by Rep. Juan Hinojosa would make it a FELONY for a private sale of a firearm without a background check at a gun show or any place that meets his definition. The only customers that you could sell to would be federally licensed dealers and concealed handgun licensees.

Action from you is needed to stop this legislation as it moves toward the House of Representatives. Call, write, fax, or e-mail (Do all four!) your individual representative and ask for a vote against this legislation that violates a civil-right tradition that is as old as the history of Texas. Attach to your fax, letter, or e-mail the talking points against gun show restrictions posted on the TSRA web site at: http://www.tsra.com/gnshtalk.htm. Include the references to make a complete case. All existing studies confirm evidence contrary to the objectives of the bill's author and supporters. Imposing rules, that will burden you, will not hamper criminals.

The information above shoots down all of Representative Hinojosa's March 20 arguments, as well as those of his supporters. Those arguments were more of a wish for a remedy to an imagined problem rather than a true antidote for crime. While Rep. Hinojosa's legislation may be well meaning and honorable, the end result would be to burden you with unnecessary restraint, delay, and expense on the otherwise perfectly legal sale of your firearm. And worst of all, this unnecessary restraint is only a pen stroke away from applying to all private sales and transfers of firearms -- inside or outside of gun shows. The legislators supporting this close-the-loophole vogue and their followers do not understand that the same rules for firearm transfer apply regardless of the location of the sale.

The supporters of gun show restrictions think you object because of an inconvenience. A FELONY conviction for something that you have been able to do forever is more than an inconvenience. They want you to accept useless, impractical rules to satisfy their fixation against gun shows. Consider the following scenario if Senator Hinojosa's HB 367 should become law. 

If a potential firearm sale is not completed -- because of a background check system outage (a fairly common occurrence), or a delay or deny response from FBI system (three days allowed), or a change of heart on the part of the purchaser -- the dealer is required to run the FBI check on YOU before you can get your previously lawfully-owned personal property back and go home! If the background check on you also experienced a glitch, you may not get your firearm back until after the show and have to pay shipping charges from the FFL to boot. At this point, your "no sale" is bearing the cost of two NICS checks plus shipping and probably insurance.

It is very important that you contact your representative to stop this bad gun show bill. Contact information can be accessed at: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm. For credibility, include your name, address, and phone number. As always, please be respectful to your representative.

FROM THE TSRA WEBSITE: WWW.TSRA.COM