Making money on gun control...

Fighting Gun Control: A Money-making Business

Recently, Alan Rice received an "invitation" to join the very official sounding, Gun Owners Task Force. A part of the National Republican Congressional Committee. To see the letter click here. To see the very official looking "membership card" click here.

We are disturbed by this new group that on the surface claims to have been organized to "...protect Second Amendment Rights..." In reality, this group was put together to elect and re-elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives.

There are several problems with this so called, pro gun group. First, as a part of the National Republican Congressional Committee they will fight to elect ANY Republican, not just the pro gun candidates. Click here for a list of anti gun Republicans.

Fighting - or pretending to fight - "gun control" is a big business. Thousands make a living "fighting" gun control.

That is why, six days a week, someone in the US gets a piece of mail in which they are asked to, "make out a personal check or fill in your credit card information... for a contribution of $25, $50, or even $100...to defend the Second Amendment...".

Almost all organizations that "fight" gun control have at least one paid employee, and some have many full time, paid employees. If "gun control" suddenly vanished, these folks would have to find real jobs.

Very few of the organizations asking you to open your wallet are all volunteer, whose members only get reimbursed for their actual, documented outlays for printing, postage, telephone, auto use, etc.

Do not be misled by the claims of the many seeking your money that their organization is tax-exempt, under Section 501(c)(3) or 501 (c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Such organizations employ hundreds of thousands of workers, and the managers can earn salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Politicians also seek your money to "fight" gun control. The National Republican Congressional Committee, on 20 August sent out a letter asking for money to help make sure, "the anti Second Amendment Democrats do not take over the U.S. House of Representatives".

In this five page, multi-color letter** - costly to print and to mail - US House of Representatives Majority Whip Tom DeLay, warns that a Democrat run House of Representatives will ban guns, impose sky-high taxes, lengthen waiting periods, register gun owners, etc. This is surely true. Nationally, the Democrats are the party of gun control and have been for over 65 years. However, many recent gun control laws were passed with the help of several weak kneed Republicans including former Senate Minority and then Majority Leader and 1996 Presidential Candidate Bob Dole. But to be fair, there are many Democrats that are pro gun, and have voted for and sponsored pro gun legislation. Here are two brave (Democratic) patriots from our home state of New Hampshire.

DeLay claims that, "we must not let our victories of the past eight years...". What victories? How was your civil right to be armed expanded over those eight years (1994-2002)? What bans - on imports or possession by law abiding persons - were lifted? What taxes on firearms were cut? During those years, the Clinton administration waged war on Federally licensed firearms dealers, boosting fees, and using every means to force thousands to give up their licenses and close legitimate tax paying businesses.

In fact, the Republicans did nothing to help you, when their solid majorities in both Houses enabled them to do so. DeLay so states: "not a single anti SecondAmendment federal law has been passed since Republicans took control of the United States House of Representatives in 1994". But what was done to make things better? DeLay concedes that when the Republicans had solid majorities, they did nothing to roll-back the useless but repressive Gun Control Act of 1968. To be sure, the now infamous Lautenberg Gun Ban which disarmed those convicted of a mere shouting match with a family member became law in 1996 when both Houses of Congress were controlled by Republicans. For more information on this law go to: Gun Owners of America.

At the end of this letter, DeLay concedes the truth: he seeks only to "protect your rights", degraded as they have been over the decades. He seems unable to imagine restoring the original luster to the Second Amendment, by peeling back the decades of filth heaped upon it by Democrat administrations.

Republicans, especially anti gun Republicans are fond of telling gun owners, you have nowhere else to go. Not true! Law abiding firearms owners, defenders of the Second Amendment have the right and the obligation to vote for a pro gun third party candidate if that will cause an anti gun Republican to lose an election. If enough anti gun Republicans lose elections then the party leaders might wake up and FORCE elected Republican's to adhere to the party platform. It is interesting to note that during President Bill Clinton's administration, the Democratic party enforced party unity and discipline to their platform calling for severe restrictions and in some cases out right bans on the ownership and use of firearms by the law abiding.

There is a reason for this. Many Republicans accept gun control in concept, but simply want to make it "reasonable" or "common sense". Will DeLay make sure they don't get a dime of your money? We doubt it? Considering that he is interested in "Defending Our [his] Majority"

We point out that with at least 240 million firearms in the United States (BATF data), gun control cannot be made to work. Of 281 million Americans, only a tiny criminal minority abuses firearms. These violent criminals will be able to get the few they need, even if every firearm in America vaporized. The UK, an island, banned handguns four years ago, but faces soaring levels of criminality, including crimes involving handguns: the handguns are smuggled into Britain, or were never given up by the criminals.

Thus DeLay's quest for your money is as fraudulent as are the claims of gun control advocates, who claim that "gun free" societies are safer.

Gun control advocates and those who claim to fight gun control need each other. If gun control vanished, thousands would have to get real jobs.

We think you should direction your contributions to organizations that are ,all volunteer or at least to those organizations that actually do things to enhance your civil right to be armed.

If you get a request for money to "fight gun control", ask the organization's officers to show you hard proof that they did at least one of the following:
- they helped to pay for law-suits aimed at overturning gun control laws, in your state or nationally
- they lobbied for the repeal of anti-gun laws in your state or nationally;
- they lobbied for the enactment of a concealed carry law in your state, or for a longer term of validity of a carry license, or for reciprocity between your state and other states;
- they lobbied for state-wide pre-emption, to avoid a crazy quilt of confusing and conflict local ordinances designed to ensnare the law abiding person;
- they lobbied to end "posting", i.e., to end restrictions on concealed carry imposed by business owners, in public buildings, etc.
If an organization does not do any of these things, don't give them a dime.

If you give them money, you are wasting dollars needed by organizations that do these things.

You'd be better advised to spend the money you don't give to useless organizations, to improve your shooting club and/or your own shooting skills. Money spent in such ways does good.

Money given to useless "anti-gun control" organizations at best is wasted. At worst, because that money is not spent for useful purposes, it actually does harm.

We note that while some organizations' tax exempt status bars them from lobbying, they can help to pay for law suits aimed at rolling back gun control, and so restoring the Second Amendment's luster.

When you get letters requesting contributions from useless organizations - those that do not actually try to restore the Second Amendment's brilliant luster by rolling back gun control - put these letters to their highest and best use. Re-cycle them. At least, you'll help to save a tree.

You should only contribute to organizations that actually want to roll-back gun control. The others are at best useless and at worst frauds.

Tom DeLay claims to be "Defending your rights, Defending our majority". Well, he is partially correct.

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**The letter is 4 pages, the fifth page is the reply card and the "official membership card".

Pro Gun Democrats:
State Senator George Disnard, Claremont, New Hampshire
State Representative Theresa Drabinowicz, Nashua New Hampshire

Comments, questions, observations... do you know of a local pro gun Democrat?
Please contact us by email: alanandjay@lethallaws.com

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