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American Gun Law Expert Urges Support for National Concealed Firearms Carry Bill
Washington, DC
Saturday, January 17, 2009
American Gun Law Expert Urges Support for National Concealed Firearms Carry Bill
"It's been said that a strong offense is the best defense, and now is the time for the 90 million law-abiding gun-owning voters in the United States to implement that strategy," says gun rights expert John M. Snyder. "Showing strong support for the proposed National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act is an important way to do this"
"These days," continues Snyder, "gun grabbers slather at the potential for passing restrictive gun control legislation as a president with an outrageous public record of support for repressive measures in this regard takes office. He'll have an attorney general of like-minded background and political party majorities in both houses of Congress.
"This slather, however, leaves out of account a number of facts and some significant recent political history"
For one thing, Snyder, named the senior rights activist in Washington by Shotgun News, reminds people, "Obama won last November's election running against a candidate of a party hamstrung by the record of a terribly unpopular president who led the country into a terribly unpopular war and during a terrible economy. Issues involving personal gun rights played little part in the election. In fact, Obama tried to downplay his horrendous record in this regard. After the Supreme Court declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual, as distinguished from a collective, right to keep and bear arms, and threw out the District of Columbia handgun ban, Obama even actually reversed position on the issue, although he refused to admit that the reversal was a reversal.
"For another thing, the last time Obama's party went gung-ho for gun control, with enactment of a 1994 semiautomatic firearms ban, the party lost control in the House of Representatives for the first time in decades. Former President Clinton even stated the anti-gun initiative was the reason for the loss in his 1995 State of the Union message and in his memoirs. As a result the ban was allowed to sunset after a decade. Now, the red hots among the Democrats want to resurrect the ban and even strengthen it. If they succeed, the party may soon be smashed again in an election"
A former NRA magazine editor, Snyder, Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, says "one important fact to keep in mind is that the 90 million gun owners in our country are tens of millions more people than there were voters for Obama. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives most likely are aware of this. Are a majority of these members likely to roll over for gun grabbing initiatives coming from the White House, the Justice Department, or fellow members? Already, there's indication that on some other issues a number of Democrats don't want to follow Obama over a cliff. While all Americans hope the new president will meet with success as he tries to deal with a troubled economy, people will not follow him willy-nilly if it conflicts with their true interests"
"One of the most popular legislative initiatives in recent years is the movement allowing qualified law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms," says Snyder, Treasurer of the Second Amendment Foundation. "Studies by scholars such as John R. Lott, Jr., author of More Guns Less Crime, demonstrate that in jurisdictions where such a public policy is implemented, violent crime takes a nosedive. Forty states now have some kind of right to carry policy.
"What has been missing is federal right to carry concealed legislation so that persons permitted to carry in a state may carry in other states, in much the same way as people licensed to drive in a state may drive in other states. Into this breech comes the bipartisan introduction of H.R. 197, the proposed National Right to Carry Concealed Act of 2009, by Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, a Republican, and Rick Boucher of Virginia, a Democrat. The proposal would allow persons permitted to carry a concealed firearm in a state to carry in other states"
Snyder says "there's a lot of Obama hoop-la right now with inaugural festivities but this will not last long. What will last is the interest in the right of self-defense and the right to carry and use guns for self-defense. Democrats and Republicans in Congress both need to show they have their constituents' genuine interests at heart. Cosponsoring H.R. 197 is one way they can do this"
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"It's been said that a strong offense is the best defense, and now is the time for the 90 million law-abiding gun-owning voters in the United States to implement that strategy," says gun rights expert John M. Snyder. "Showing strong support for the proposed National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act is an important way to do this"
"These days," continues Snyder, "gun grabbers slather at the potential for passing restrictive gun control legislation as a president with an outrageous public record of support for repressive measures in this regard takes office. He'll have an attorney general of like-minded background and political party majorities in both houses of Congress.
"This slather, however, leaves out of account a number of facts and some significant recent political history"
For one thing, Snyder, named the senior rights activist in Washington by Shotgun News, reminds people, "Obama won last November's election running against a candidate of a party hamstrung by the record of a terribly unpopular president who led the country into a terribly unpopular war and during a terrible economy. Issues involving personal gun rights played little part in the election. In fact, Obama tried to downplay his horrendous record in this regard. After the Supreme Court declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual, as distinguished from a collective, right to keep and bear arms, and threw out the District of Columbia handgun ban, Obama even actually reversed position on the issue, although he refused to admit that the reversal was a reversal.
"For another thing, the last time Obama's party went gung-ho for gun control, with enactment of a 1994 semiautomatic firearms ban, the party lost control in the House of Representatives for the first time in decades. Former President Clinton even stated the anti-gun initiative was the reason for the loss in his 1995 State of the Union message and in his memoirs. As a result the ban was allowed to sunset after a decade. Now, the red hots among the Democrats want to resurrect the ban and even strengthen it. If they succeed, the party may soon be smashed again in an election"
A former NRA magazine editor, Snyder, Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, says "one important fact to keep in mind is that the 90 million gun owners in our country are tens of millions more people than there were voters for Obama. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives most likely are aware of this. Are a majority of these members likely to roll over for gun grabbing initiatives coming from the White House, the Justice Department, or fellow members? Already, there's indication that on some other issues a number of Democrats don't want to follow Obama over a cliff. While all Americans hope the new president will meet with success as he tries to deal with a troubled economy, people will not follow him willy-nilly if it conflicts with their true interests"
"One of the most popular legislative initiatives in recent years is the movement allowing qualified law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms," says Snyder, Treasurer of the Second Amendment Foundation. "Studies by scholars such as John R. Lott, Jr., author of More Guns Less Crime, demonstrate that in jurisdictions where such a public policy is implemented, violent crime takes a nosedive. Forty states now have some kind of right to carry policy.
"What has been missing is federal right to carry concealed legislation so that persons permitted to carry in a state may carry in other states, in much the same way as people licensed to drive in a state may drive in other states. Into this breech comes the bipartisan introduction of H.R. 197, the proposed National Right to Carry Concealed Act of 2009, by Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, a Republican, and Rick Boucher of Virginia, a Democrat. The proposal would allow persons permitted to carry a concealed firearm in a state to carry in other states"
Snyder says "there's a lot of Obama hoop-la right now with inaugural festivities but this will not last long. What will last is the interest in the right of self-defense and the right to carry and use guns for self-defense. Democrats and Republicans in Congress both need to show they have their constituents' genuine interests at heart. Cosponsoring H.R. 197 is one way they can do this"
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John M. Snyder
Manager
Telum Associates, LLC
Arlington, VA
301-365-3180
