Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Wednesday night, by a vote of 245 to 189, the House passed H.R. 2 — a bill to repeal the anti-gun ObamaCare law.

Congratulations!

As you may recall, this is the law that will allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to troll a federal database containing your most confidential health care data in order to create millions of new “prohibited persons” for the FBI’s InstantCheck data bank.

But to listen to most media accounts after the vote, you would think that while we won the first battle — we have already lost the war.

Wrong.
True, we have some tough battles ahead of us. But don’t believe the far left’s premature pronouncements of our defeat. For instance, they claim the repeal bill won’t even come up for a vote in the Senate.

Well, the truth is that a single Senator can use the Senate rules to force the House-passed bill onto the Senate legislative calendar. And at least one Senator has indicated that he will do this.

Once H.R. 2 is on the Senate calendar, ANY SENATOR can move to proceed to it. True, Harry Reid will squeal and whine that Republicans are interfering with “his prerogatives.” But as red state Democrats stare into the face of electoral defeat, Reid’s prerogatives may not be that important to them.

It is also widely believed that the bill would fail in the Senate even if it were voted on. Maybe, maybe not. Many bills start without a majority of support in Congress, but ultimately pass.

The trump card of the left is they believe President Obama will veto any ObamaCare repeal.

We’ll see. If Republicans choose to tack the ObamaCare repeal onto some “must pass” legislation such as the funding of the government or the debt limit increase, Obama will face the choice of repealing his treasured legacy or shutting down his rule-making agencies for the remainder of his term.

So, the bottom line is this:
The successful legislative strategy of the far left over the past year is to pronounce, like a mantra, “We’re going to win. You’re going to lose.” All too often, our side concedes.

But we have all the legislative tools we need to repeal ObamaCare — or shut down the Obama administration.

Action: Contact your Senators and urge them not to believe the lie that there’s no way to repeal ObamaCare. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your Senators a pre-written e-mail message.

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC – The anti-gun health care issue may very well be decided this weekend. Even if you have already called, faxed or e-mailed your congressman, it is imperative that you do so one last time. Please see contact information and suggested letter and talking points below.

This is gun owners’ last shot (so to speak) at saving the country from the worst piece of legislation that we’ve seen in years.

Make no mistake about it: The pivotal vote in the House will be – directly or indirectly – on whether to adopt the corrupt and discredited Senate ObamaCare bill verbatim. And the votes are being corralled by Obama and Pelosi through a new round of bribes, threats, and corruption.

Consider what has been implanted in the bill which will be voted on in the House this week.

1. Restrictions upon gun owners. The Senate-passed version would allow the ATF to troll your confidential medical records in order to take guns away from potentially tens of millions of Americans. The “individual mandate” (in Sections 1501 and 1502) will make it impossible for you to keep private, medical information out of the government-controlled medical database that was created in last year’s stimulus bill.

2. Bribes, bribes, bribes. The bill your Representative will be voting on still contains virtually all of the bribes that made the Senate version such a disgusting spectacle. This includes:

• Mary Landrieu’s $300,000,000 “Louisiana Purchase;”
• A broadened version of the nauseating “Cornhusker Kickback” to get Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson’s vote;
• The roughly $10 BILLION (with a “b”) bribe to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for clinics which could well be run by ACORN and Planned Parenthood;
• The $100 million Connecticut “Hospital Handout” bribe to corrupt Senator Chris Dodd; and
• The $300 million Libby, Montana, asbestos bribe.

3. Unconstitutional mandates. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill to be voted on this week would increase the cost of private insurance by 10-13% over what it would be if Congress did nothing — and require, under penalty of imprisonment, that you buy it.

4. Corrupt procedures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) plan to ram this bill through the Congress and onto the President’s desk using cheat schemes called “reconciliation” and “self-executing rules.” This is nothing other than a slimy attempt to ignore the will of the people, who according to the latest polls, overwhelmingly oppose this legislation:

• Under “reconciliation,” any language qualifying for special Senate procedures had to have been reported out of committee by October 15, 2009. As of March 15, 2010, the language was still not available, even though the House Budget Committee voted to approve the non-existent draft.
• Under the Senate rules, these special procedures can be used only to reduce the deficit. Once you discount the accounting tricks and fraud that Reid and Pelosi are employing, ObamaCare would INCREASE the deficit by half a trillion dollars over the first ten years.
• Despite Obama’s lies, “reconciliation” has never been used for non-budgetary issues which do not reduce the deficit.
• Now, House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is proposing a plan (which has been approved by Pelosi) to “deem” ObamaCare passed without having the House vote on it. Read more about this plan at http://tinyurl.com/yk7s5a4 .

According to news reports, the phones are ringing off the hook on Capitol Hill. Estimates as to how close Pelosi is to delivering the votes vary widely. But Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who opposes the bill on grounds that it would allow for taxpayer funding of abortions, says he thinks Pelosi is about 16 votes away.

Please take action now!
WHERE DOES YOUR REPRESENTATIVE STAND ON HEALTH CARE? You can go to two URLs to get the latest updates on where your Representative stands. Please see:

• http://tinyurl.com/ya3oulz
• http://tinyurl.com/y99ccy7

CONTACT INFO:

Phone: toll-free at 877-762-8762 or 800-965-4701; or call the regular number at 202-225-3121

E-mail: Visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Representative.

—– Pre-written letter and talking points —–

Dear Representative:

I am writing you with one final plea to vote against the Senate’s corrupt and bribe-laden ObamaCare bill.

Despite the fact that the Senate tried to allay gun owners’ concerns, the Senate bill would still allow the ATF to troll the confidential medical records in order to take guns away from potentially tens of millions of Americans. This is because the “individual mandate” in Sections 1501 and 1502 of the Senate-passed bill would make it impossible for people to keep private, medical information out of the government-controlled medical database that was created by the stimulus bill.

The process that put together this Senate bill has been marked with bribes (such as the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, etc.), by unconstitutional mandates and by corrupt procedures. As to corruption, any rules vote on your part which “deems” ObamaCare as passed will be held in the greatest contempt by your constituents.

You represent my state, not the “state of Nancy Pelosi.” Americans overwhelmingly oppose this legislation. Please — please listen to your constituents and vote against ObamaCare.

Sincerely,
———————————————

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- According to a recent poll, only 23% of the American people want Congress to pass the anti-gun ObamaCare bill.

And the President’s response to this? He believes Americans are just too stupid to understand what geniuses like him, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are trying to do for us.

So what is Obama’s current plan?  Cheat.

ObamaCare is already the product of fraud, secrecy, bribery, and corruption. But Obama is preparing to ratchet up this corruption to a whole new level.

In 1974, Congress created a special process for balancing the budget. Senators could reduce the deficit with a simple 51 votes in the Senate, rather than getting the 60 needed votes to stop a filibuster.

Under the rules, this process — called “reconciliation” — can ONLY be used for balancing the budget.

To repeat, it cannot be used for anything other than reducing the deficit. By contrast, ObamaCare would INCREASE the deficit by at least $500 BILLION.

So what does Obama do (with the help of crooked accountants at the Congressional Budget Office)?  He lies.

He fraudulently pretends the anti-gun ObamaCare legislation would reduce the deficit. And he does this by hiding costs and pretending he’s going to make cuts he never intends to fully implement ($465 billion in Medicare cuts).

And he intends to use this fraud scheme to cram ObamaCare down the throats of the American people against their will.

Americans don’t want the increased taxes and gun control that have been injected into the bill. Remember, Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to claim his legislation fixed the problems that Gun Owners of America had with this legislation.

But in reality, the bill still allows the ATF to troll a health/gun database in order to take away firearms from tens of millions of Americans.

ACTION:

Please contact your two senators and your representative. Tell them that using the budget-balancing “reconciliation” process to pass ObamaCare is nothing but cheating.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your legislators.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear

ObamaCare is already the product of fraud, secrecy, bribery, and corruption. But Obama is preparing to ratchet up this corruption to a whole new level.

In 1974, Congress created a special process for balancing the budget — with a simple 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the 60 needed to stop a filibuster. Under the rules, this process — called “reconciliation” — can ONLY be used for reducing the deficit.

To repeat, it cannot be used for anything other than reducing the deficit. By contrast, ObamaCare would INCREASE the deficit by at least $500 BILLION.

So what does Obama do (with the help of crooked congressional accountants at the Congressional Budget Office)? He lies. He fraudulently pretends ObamaCare would reduce the deficit. And he does this by hiding costs (the $247 billion “doc fix”) and pretending he’s going to make cuts he never intends to fully implement ($465 billion in Medicare cuts).

This “reconciliation” scheme is nothing more than a fraud on the American people, who, according to every recent poll, oppose ObamaCare by overwhelming majorities.

Understand this: I strongly object to this “cheat scheme.”

Majority Leader Harry Reid has tried to claim his legislation fixed the anti-gun problems in ObamaCare. But in reality, it will still allow the ATF to troll a health/gun database in order to take away firearms from tens of millions of Americans.

Please oppose the use of “reconciliation” to pass ObamaCare.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————————–

The Larry Pratt News Hour is carried by the Information Radio Network on Saturdays (rebroadcasts Sundays). The show is simulcast on the web at http://irnusaradio.com/ and previous episodes are archived at http://irnusaradio.com/our-programs/gunowners-news-hour with a number of listening formats, including podcasts, supported.

Recent guests and topics, among many others, have included:

• Dave Kopel — Aiming For Liberty
• Skip Coreyell — 2nd Amendment March Organizer
• Anita Moncrief — ACORN Whistleblower

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

Massachusetts - -(AmmoLand.com)- Congratulations on a tremendous victory on Tuesday! And thank you all for your help in getting Scott Brown elected to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

Gun Owners of America was the first national gun lobby to endorse Brown, and with your aid, he was receiving more than one million dollars a day in his comeback win over anti-gun Martha Coakley.

With your help, Massachusetts — the bluest of blue states — has sent a message to Washington: take your ObamaCare bill and shove it!

By a vote of 52% to 47%, Massachusetts voters sent anti-ObamaCare candidate Scott Brown to the Senate — defeating liberal icon Martha Coakley. And D.C. Democrats are beginning to understand that GOP victories in New Jersey and Massachusetts are merely a precursor to the electoral bloodbath still to come in November.

Obama-Pelosi still committed to passing socialized health care

But has the prospect of losing two hundred congressional seats caused Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi to back off of their efforts to shove this bill down the throats of the American people?

Amazingly, no.

It”s like you stepped in something. And, as much as you scrape and scrape the bottom of your shoe, you just can”t get rid of the smell.

At first, Pelosi’s strategy was to get the House to pass the Senate version of ObamaCare — verbatim — so that the bill goes straight to the Oval Office, without having to break another filibuster in the Senate (which no longer has a filibuster-proof majority).

Thankfully, there are SO MANY rank-and-file Democrats who have revolted against this strategy (Democrats who are scared to death of losing their seats) that Rep. Pelosi yesterday said the Senate bill is not viable… WITHOUT CHANGES.

“I don’t see the votes for [the Senate bill] at this time,” Pelosi said. But note the words “at this time.”

Despite huge obstacles, Pelosi trying to resurrect ObamaCare

Pelosi did say there’s a “foundation in that bill” they can work with. So Pelosi may just try to pass one big fix-up bill — using a “reconciliation” bill that will only need 51 votes when it goes to the Senate — or simply break up the Senate bill into smaller pieces and send those parts to the President.

But remember that the Senate health care bill which Pelosi now seeks to fix contains the following problems:

• It will allow BATFE to troll a health/gun database in order to take away firearms from tens of millions of Americans;
• It is jam-packed with billions of dollars of bribes paid to buy the votes of sleazy senators;
• It will impose a host of new taxes, force Americans to buy expensive insurance which they can’t afford, and increase insurance premiums in the individual market by 10 to 13%; and,
• It will continue the bankrupting of our country by increasing the deficit by half a trillion dollars, when the underhanded accounting tricks are discounted.

You can be sure that most, if not all, of these problems will be left untouched.

ACTION: So please contact your Representative. Tell him or her to vote against the bribe-filled Senate ObamaCare bill, and that no amount of “fixing” will make this bill acceptable. The Senate already tried to fix the gun problems in the bill but failed miserably.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Representative.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Representative:

You are being urged by Nancy Pelosi to dive into the Senate’s moral cesspool and pass its ObamaCare bill — either cut up in pieces or, as a whole, accompanied by a “fix up” reconciliation bill.

If you do this, the Massachusetts results are just the faintest of forebodings of the electoral bloodbath which will erupt in November.

The American people have made it clear they do not want Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to cram this bill down our throats. And yet, Pelosi delusionally concludes that the path to electoral success is to keep cramming and cramming and cramming and cramming.

In case you have forgotten, the Senate ObamaCare bill:

* Will allow BATFE to troll a health/gun database in order to take away firearms from tens of millions of Americans;

* Is jam-packed with billions of dollars of bribes paid to buy the votes of sleazy senators;

* Will impose a host of new taxes, force Americans to buy expensive insurance which they can’t afford, and increase insurance premiums in the individual market by 10 to 13%; and,

* Will continue the bankrupting of our country by increasing the deficit by half a trillion dollars, when the accounting tricks are discounted.

Please tell me now that you oppose this bill and that no amount of “fix up” will make it acceptable. The Senate already tried to fix the gun problems in the bill but failed miserably. It’s time to pull the plug on ObamaCare.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————————–

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund

Massachusetts - -(AmmoLand.com)- The best opportunity to defeat ObamaCare may come from, ironically, Massachusetts.

In the race to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Republican State Senator Scott Brown could become the key vote to stop nationalized health care.

With Senate Democrats controlling 60 votes, Republicans were unable to muster the 41 votes needed to block the anti-gun health care bill when it passed the Senate on Christmas Eve. But the bill must still be voted on by both the House and Senate, and the Senate is scheduled to reconvene on January 19 — the same day as the special election in Massachusetts.

How big of an issue is health care in this election?

Scott Brown told Politico: “If you feel that Washington and the health care bill that they’re proposing is systemic of the problems in Washington and the failure to understand average people anymore, then you vote for me because as the 41st senator. I can stop a lot of this stuff in its tracks. I can actually force them to go back to the drawing board.”

Ordinarily, a Massachusetts Senate race is a cinch for Democrats, who dominate state politics. But a recent Public Policy Polling poll shows Brown up one point against his opponent, anti-gun State Attorney General Martha Coakley!

Should Scott Brown pull off a win, the ObamaCare legislation would die instantly as Democrats will have lost their 60th vote.

As state Senator, Brown is considered one of the most conservative Republicans in the Bay State – supporting issues like concealed carry of firearms and earning an “A+” rating from the state pro-gun group, Gun Owners Action League.

His opponent is the type of radical anti-gunner people have come to expect from Massachusetts. Late last year, Attorney General Coakley filed a brief urging the state Supreme Court to uphold a law requiring firearms to be kept under lock and key when not in use.

The choice for gun owners in this race could not be more clear — and the stakes could not be higher.

After telling gun owners for a year that they had nothing to fear from the national health care bill, Democrats in Washington finally admitted that that was a bald-faced lie. So they stuck a bunch of language in the most recent version of the bill supposedly addressing the gun problems (which they claimed for so long did not exist!)

But the new language does not prohibit the FBI or the BATFE from trolling the ObamaCare medical database in search of medical reasons to disqualify citizens from owning firearms.

Already, the Department of Veterans Affairs — which operates its own nationalized health care system — has denied around 150,000 veterans their Second Amendment rights based on the opinions of doctors, and not on the basis of any criminal conviction. And that is just the tip of the iceberg should the health care bill pass for the rest of the population.

So you can see how important this Massachusetts special election on January 19 is for the nation.

It is also clear that concerned citizens from all over the country should do all they can to get Scott Brown over the finish line.

This is a very expensive race, and Scott’s opponent has so far out-raised him significantly, as she’s raked in millions of dollars from ObamaCare supporters.

And, even though Scott is carrying the Republican message that will likely dominate the 2010 Congressional elections, news reports indicate that the Republican national committees have shown only token support. That must change, and change quickly.

Sure, Massachusetts is normally a safe Democrat state — but these are not normal times. This race is winnable. Scott Brown was down by 31 percentage points in November, but he is now effectively tied in the latest poll.

There are several action items that can be taken by people from every state:

1. Visit Scott Brown on the web at www.brownforussenate.com and make a generous contribution. And, please make sure all your contacts know about the importance of this race.
2. Contact National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn at info@nrsc.org and urge him to pull out all the stops to elect Scott Brown.
3. Email Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele at info@gop.com and deliver the same message.
4. Of course, if you live in Massachusetts, vote for Scott Brown on Tuesday, January 19.

Together, we can strike a blow to anti-gun national health care — and send a powerful message to Washington — by scoring a win in liberal Massachusetts.

Paid for by Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund is a project of Gun Owners of America

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Here’s where we’re at on socialized health care. The House and Senate have passed ObamaCare bills, but the two versions are very different. So, the bill can’t go to the President until they iron out the differences.

Make no mistake about it. This legislation moves us down the road towards socialism, and it will result in even more gun owners being disqualified from owning firearms.

We need to regroup and renew our efforts to kill ObamaCare — an outcome which is still very doable.

Now, repeat this phrase over and over: A MORAL CESSPOOL.

If we are going to defeat the anti-gun ObamaCare legislation, these words are going to have to be repeated millions of times over the next month.

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.

Why is this refrain so important?
There are several reasons why, but consider this: Throughout this fight over ObamaCare, Senators have lied about guns… they’ve lied about the deficit… they’ve lied about the costs of health insurance premiums and how the bill will affect senior citizens. They have lied over and over to their constituents about all these issues.

That’s why it’s time that we tell Democrat Senators how corrupt their vote for ObamaCare really was. Obviously, they won’t agree. So let each Senator make the argument that, “I am not a crook.”

That argument never wins elections.

Already, Democrat Representatives and Senators are either switching parties or announcing their retirements. They know the American people are disgusted with the moral bankruptcy of the U.S. Congress — a situation that has become obvious to anyone who watches the nightly news.

Consider the following despicable practices which were perpetrated in order to push ObamaCare through the Senate last month:

1. Lies

• For months, Senators claimed there were no anti-gun provisions in the ObamaCare legislation. But everyone knew they were lying. So last month, a provision was inserted into the Senate bill which claims to allay the concerns of gun owners — but leaves the most important problem unremedied. If they weren’t lying to begin with, then why try to fix what they claimed wasn’t there?
• Senators are now insisting that the current Senate health bill protects the rights of gun owners, even though this version would still allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information. This could result in millions of Americans — who are suffering from PTSD and other similar conditions — being put into the NICS system and denied the right to buy firearms.

2. Bribes

• A $100 million bribe to treat Sen. Ben Nelson’s state different from all others, in exchange for Ben Nelson’s vote.
• A $100-300 million bribe to treat Sen. Mary Landrieu’s state different from all others, in exchange for Mary Landrieu’s vote.
• $10 billion for community health centers operated by groups similar to ACORN, in exchange for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ vote.
• A bribe to Sen. Max Baucus in order to treat Libby, Montana, different from any other town.
• A bribe to Sen. Chris Dodd consisting of a $100 million medical center in Connecticut.
• Bribes to Sens. Kent Conrad, Brian Dorgan, Bill Nelson, etc., etc., etc.
• In fact, there are so many bribes in the Senate version of the ObamaCare bill that the bribe-meister himself, Majority Leader Harry Reid, publicly bragged that if your senator doesn’t have a bribe in this bill, it “speaks poorly” of him.

3. Extortion

• Threats to take away Sen. Joe Lieberman’s chairmanship because of his opposition to the government run “public option.”

4. Fraud

• Senators are claiming that the Senate-passed version reduces the deficit, even though:

• a. $247 billion of the bill’s costs are being snuck through in separate legislation;
• b. The “savings” rely on $465 billion of Medicare “cuts,” which no one believed were achievable; and
• c. The “savings” rely on making new taxes take effect 3-5 years before any of those tax monies are spent.

• Senators are claiming that the bill would make Medicare solvent — but this claim can only be made by fraudulently double-counting the effects of the phony Medicare cuts.
• Senators are claiming that health care costs would be brought under control, when the government’s own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that costs would go up $245 billion.
• Senators are claiming that premiums would be brought under control, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that policies under the “exchange” (i.e., those policies which you would have to buy, under penalty of law) would be 10-13% more expensive than if Congress did nothing.

5. Secrecy

• The final version of the 2407-page bill wasn’t revealed until less than 48 hours before Congress began voting on it.

Now that the Christmas holidays are behind us, we need to get back to work. Please take the time to contact your Senator, so that we can protect the rights of gun owners by defeating socialized medicine.

ACTION: Over the next month, the term “moral cesspool” needs to become part of the political lexicon. Below, you will find that two sample communications are attached — one for Democrat Senators, the other for Republicans.

So please send your letter, and then get your relatives, your friends, your neighbors, your gun clubs, churches, etc., to do the same.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Senators — the appropriate e-mail will automatically be sent to your Senator, based on whether he or she is a Republican or Democrat.

—– Pre-written letter for Democrat Senators —–

Dear Senator:

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool, and you need to begin doing something about it before this whole country is sacrificed on the altar of the Senate’s moral decay.

I am disgusted with the lies, bribes, and fraud which you have advocated by voting for the Senate ObamaCare legislation:

* Millions of American taxpayer dollars were spent in the states of Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Chris Dodd to obtain their votes. In fact, so many bribes were shelled out that the chief bribe-meister, Harry Reid, publicly bragged that if a senator doesn’t have a bribe in this bill, it “speaks poorly” of him.

* The Senate bill was passed on the claim that the Reid bill reduces the deficit, even though:

a. $247 billion of the bill’s costs are being snuck through in separate legislation;

b. The “savings” rely on $465 billion of Medicare “cuts,” which no one believed were achievable; and

c. The “savings” rely on making new taxes take effect 3-5 years before any of those tax monies are spent.

* Senators claimed that health care costs would be brought under control, when the government’s own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that costs would go up $245 billion.

* Senators also claimed that premiums would be brought under control, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that policies under the “exchange” (i.e., those policies which you would have to buy, under penalty of law) would be 10-13% more expensive than if Congress did nothing.

There is still time to change course. I implore you to change your vote on ObamaCare.

Sincerely,

—– Pre-written letter for Republican Senators —–

Dear Senator:

Thank you for voting against the ObamaCare fiasco.

For months, Senators claimed there were no anti-gun provisions in the ObamaCare legislation. But everyone knew they were lying. So last month, a provision was inserted into the Senate bill which claims to allay the concerns of gun owners — but leaves the most important problem unremedied.

Some Democrat Senators are now claiming that the current Senate health bill protects the rights of gun owners, even though this version would still allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information. This could result in millions of Americans — who are suffering from PTSD and other similar conditions — being put into the NICS system and denied the right to buy firearms.

Bottom line: Please do everything in your power to kill the ObamaCare legislation. What can you, as a senator, do about this?

Please take away the incentive that the suicidal Democrats have for selling their votes on ObamaCare for posh nominations in the Obama administration after they are defeated at the polls or retire.

You can do this by announcing you will place a “hold” on the nominations of Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh, Chris Dodd, Brian Dorgan, and Michael Bennet — nominations which will inevitably be made next year as a payoff for their votes on behalf of ObamaCare.

It’s time that the bribes stopped, and you can make this happen.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————————–

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

National Shooting Sports Foundation

Washington, Dc --(AmmoLand.com)- Pro-gun forces were successful at inserting language into the Senate Health Care Bill that prohibits the collection or disclosure of any information regarding the lawful possession or storage of firearms and ammunition in the residence or property of a gun owner.

It prohibits the use of any health-related databases from constructing a list of gun owners or questioning individuals to construct such a database.

It also bans insurance companies from using possession of a firearm or ammunition as an excuse to limit or not offer coverage.

Finally, insurance companies cannot increase premiums due to an individual lawfully owning firearms and ammunition.

House and Senate Democratic leaders are now meeting to work out the substantial differences between the two health care bills. View bill language (beginning on Page 5).

About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 5,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

“Score one for the Gun Owners of America ….” Slate Magazine, December 20, 2009

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- You guys have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Our efforts together in lobbying against ObamaCare have netted some positive gains, and that has the political left up in arms.

The writers at the ultra-liberal Slate magazine are beside themselves that an organization like the Gun Owners of America was able to move the Senate to include protections for gun owners.
According to Slate on December 20:

Score one for the Gun Owners of America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle Association…. [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who represents the gun-loving state of Nevada has inserted into his “manager’s amendment” a section titled “Protecting 2nd Amendment Gun Rights.” It states that no wellness program implemented under health reform may require disclosure or collection of any information relating to gun ownership.

Medical information has already been used to deny — without due process or trial by jury — more than 150,000 military veterans the right to buy firearms.

Senator Reid tries to appease Gun Owners; leaves naysayers out on a limb

In the face of all this abuse, Senator Reid was pressured by GOA and his constituents into making a face-saving move. He wanted to silence the pro-gun community’s objections, so he took steps to strip the bill of any gun rights concerns.

But what a delicious irony this created. Prior to Senator Reid’s Second Amendment “fix,” many Senators had been telling their constituents for months that there were no Second Amendment concerns in the ObamaCare legislation — and now, Senator Reid left them out on a limb.

“There is no mention of ‘gun-related health data’ anywhere in the Senate’s health reform bill, and there is nothing in the bill that would result in any such data being reported to the government,” said Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) to one constituent. “I support the Second Amendment and will continue to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms.”

Senator Casey supports the Second Amendment? What a laugh! Has Senator Casey seen his voting record on the GOA website? This year, he’s voted wrong on gun issues over 70% of the time.

Then there’s Democrat Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico: “It is my understanding that there is no discussion within the Senate concerning firearms in relation to health care. Please be assured I will keep your comments in mind as the Senate debates comprehensive health care reform.”

Senator Bingaman, will you really keep the views of your constituents in mind? If so, then why did you vote for the ObamaCare bill? After all, more than 60% of the American people oppose it!

To listen to these and other liberal Senators, you would think there were no Second Amendment concerns in President Obama’s signature piece of legislation. But then, lo and behold, Senator Reid included language in his substitute amendment that totally undercut these Senators’ excuses.

GOA lobbying saves gun owners from bureaucratic mischief…

Slate then goes on to lament the other victory that GOA scored:

[G]un owners also won another provision forbidding private insurers participating in the bill’s exchanges from charging higher premiums, or denying coverage, or denying wellness discounts on the basis of gun ownership. Unlike the previous section, this one doesn’t place a restriction on what government may do. It places a restriction on what the private sector may choose to do on its own. It inhibits that most holy of right-wing sacred cows: free enteprise [sic].
The socialists at Slate magazine hate free enterprise so much, they can’t even spell the word correctly. It’s reminiscent of the Fonz from Happy Days trying unsuccessfully years ago to get the words “I was wr-wr-wrong” out of his mouth.

Yes, it’s true that GOA won a victory in this area. But GOA’s opposition to the “wellness” regulations was not driven by an effort to help big business, as it was totally driven by opposition to GOVERNMENT REGULATION that would impinge upon gun owners.

Every draft of the ObamaCare legislation on Capitol Hill would give Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tremendous regulatory power. And in early versions of the Senate bill, the anti-gun Sebelius could very well have mandated that gun ownership is an activity so dangerous that your insurance coverage needed to be suspended.

The Reid “fix” prohibits companies from charging insurance premiums that would impinge upon “lawful” gun owners, but this will leave millions of gun owners in the cold — specifically, those honest Americans who cannot legally own firearms in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Slate, of course, didn’t pick up on these loopholes in the Reid compromise, but then, you can’t expect a liberal cheerleader for the Obama machine to be overly careful about analyzing a Democrat-sponsored bill.

So the bottom line?

Yes, thanks to your constant pressure, Gun Owners of America won a skirmish in the battle against socialized health care and gained some protections for gun owners.

But also remember that the ObamaCrats never really had our interests in mind and that they never really solved all the Second Amendment problems in the health care bill. Again, even with the Reid “fix,” it’s still possible that ATF agents could troll through your medical information and send that data to the FBI, who in turn, could use it to deny honest Americans their right to keep and bear arms — similar to the 150,000 military veterans who have now lost their gun rights.

The Senate is expected to vote on final passage of the ObamaCare bill tomorrow. The bill is expected to pass, but the fight is far from over. So please stay tuned, as Gun Owners of America will continue to keep you abreast of the latest developments.

Thanks again for all your activism this year. It really makes our job a whole lot easier.

Have a Merry Christmas!

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Buckeye Firearms Foundation

Ohio --(Ammoland.com)- With the 2010 mid-term elections on the horizon, the gun issue is nowhere to be found … or is it?

Health Care and the nation’s economic problems are dominating the news, and are likely to remain front and center in the upcoming campaign season.

However, gun owners need to remain vigilant. The fact is those in power want to take our guns. They always have. And they will come for them when we’re preoccupied with other issues.

One tactic to watch for is the Trojan horse, a type of attack that hides anti-gun provisions in a seemingly harmless bill. Health Care reform is of particular interest since once the government is paying medical bills, they can use the medical-related costs from any activity as an excuse for regulation.

Ken Hanson recently showed how this could work in an in-depth article called Will Health Care Reform Regulate Guns? We have successfully fought off direct attacks on our gun rights in recent years – it’s the indirect attack that should concern us.

Gun Rights Roundup is a joint venture of Buckeye Firearms Association and USCCA. We will keep fighting until every American enjoys their natural right to carry and self-defense.

About:
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities.

About:
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities. Visit: www.buckeyefirearms.org

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)-The spectacle on the Senate floor — in connection with the anti-gun ObamaCare bill — is disgusting. The Senate is debating socialized health care right now, and some Republicans may be ready to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

This alert is long, but it is necessarily so.

Here’s the situation as it stands right now on the Senate floor:

• Harry Reid is pushing a $3 trillion bill with over $500 billion in new deficits. But he is trying to conceal the deficits with accounting fraud on a scale which would put anyone else in prison for the rest of his life.
• Reid’s bill would restructure the American economy in a way that has not been seen at any time during our lifetimes — but is being shoved down the throats of the American people before they can even comprehend the magnitude of the problem.
• Harry Reid took six weeks to write his legislation behind closed doors, but is trying to force the Senate to pass the bill in no time at all. FYI, the Constitution envisions an important role for the U.S. Senate in crafting legislation, but nowhere mentions Reid’s “secret” meetings to coerce and bribe senators.

“Okay, okay” you say. The fact that Harry Reid comes across as a lying politician is not news. But there is another problem: Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has adopted a losing strategy that will, unfortunately, help speed up the passage of Harry Reid’s anti-gun health care bill.

The Senate can do little without every senator agreeing to do it — or at least not objecting to its being done. Hence, you hear about “unanimous consent requests.” This means that every senator agrees to considering a particular amendment or, at least, to voting on it at a particular time.

The thing about these requests is this: They almost always make it easier for the bill to pass.

Hence, we are at the point where WE SHOULD STOP ALL UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS TO FURTHER REID’S HEALTH CARE FREIGHT TRAIN. And a single senator can do this by simply saying: “I object.”

But instead, Mitch McConnell has already started allowing amendments to be offered which will let the Senate Democrats “clean up” the bill … just enough to get it passed by the Senate.

We need to stop this sort of deal making. We need to stop these requests which grease the skids for Harry Reid’s freight train.

And, in particular, we don’t want to clean up this diabolical monstrosity. We want to kill it.

So our message? Kill the bill. Kill the bill. Kill the bill.

AND NO MORE UNANIOMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS TO FACILITATE THAT BILL’S PASSAGE.

We don’t want Mitch McConnell to try to make himself look good by pretending to be a “non-obstructionist.” We want Senate Republicans to move heaven and earth to protect Americans from Harry Reid’s scheme of bribery, fraud and dirty politics.

ACTION: Contact your two U.S. Senators. Tell them to object to any further Unanimous Consent agreements to further the ObamaCare freight train.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Senators — the appropriate e-mail will automatically be sent to your Senator, based on whether he is a Republican or Democrat.

—– Pre-written letter for Republican Senators —–

Dear Senator:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to Unanimous Consent agreements which allow for amendments to be offered to ObamaCare — a strategy that will, unfortunately, have the effect of providing Democrats just enough votes to “clean up” this anti-gun bill and get it passed.

We need to stop this sort of request which helps grease the skids for Harry Reid’s freight train.

And, in particular, I don’t want to see this diabolical monstrosity cleaned up in a way that makes the bill just “good enough” to get 60 votes. This bill would restructure the American economy in a way that has not been seen at any time during our lifetime. I want to see this bill killed outright.

So my message? Kill the bill. Kill the bill. Kill the bill. NO MORE UNANIOMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS TO FACILITATE THAT BILL’S PASSAGE.

I don’t want Mitch McConnell to try to make Republicans look good by pretending to be “non-obstructionist.” I want Senate Republicans to move heaven and earth to protect Americans from Harry Reid’s socialist scheme.

Sincerely,

—– Pre-written letter for Democrat Senators —–

Dear Senator:

The spectacle on the Senate floor — in connection with ObamaCare — is disgusting:

* Harry Reid is pushing a $3 trillion bill with over $500 billion in new deficits. But he is trying to conceal the deficits with accounting fraud on a scale which would put anyone else in prison for the rest of his life.

* Reid’s bill would restructure the American economy in a way that has not been seen at any time during our lifetimes — but is being shoved down the throats of the American people before they can even comprehend the magnitude of the problem.

* Harry Reid took six weeks to write his legislation behind closed doors, but is trying to force the Senate to pass the bill in no time at all. FYI, the Constitution envisions an important role for the U.S. Senate in crafting legislation, but nowhere mentions Reid’s “secret” meetings to coerce and bribe senators.

Please oppose this diabolical monstrosity.

Sincerely,

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

ACTION: As the Senate begins debate on socialized health care this week, the White House is pulling out all the stops to get it passed, including an attack on Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment.

Please contact your Senators and warn them that a vote in favor of socialized health care will be considered a vote against the Second Amendment. [A pre-written letter is provided below.]

Why don’t they read the bills?

Last week, as Americans were getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, Obama’s spin doctors were still in full combat mode, taking shots at Gun Owners of America.

On the official White House blog, deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer denied that the health care bill would affect gun owners.

After all, he writes, “there is no mention [of] ‘gun-related health data’ or anything like it anywhere in either the Senate or the House bills.”

Well, unlike so many in Congress, GOA attorneys have actually read the bills, something they have been doing since before Mr. Pfeiffer was born.

So, how would ObamaCare attack gun rights?

First of all, the fact that the bills do not mention the words “gun related health data” is meaningless. Those who know even a little bit about gun law understand the increasing use of statutes which do not mention guns — in order to regulate them nonetheless.

Gun banners love to interpret laws in the most expansive ways.
Within the past year, the federal district court for the District of Columbia used the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to overturn Bush regulations involving guns in parks. NEPA did not purport to apply to guns.

Increasingly, zoning ordinances are being used to put gun ranges and gun dealers out of business. These ordinances do not mention guns.

Thirty-five jurisdictions have brought lawsuits to try to put gun manufacturers out of business, arguing negligence, product defect, and nuisance law which were not previously thought to apply to guns.

And, over the last decade, veterans suffering from PTSD have been denied the right to purchase a gun. This was not supposed to happen when the Brady Law was enacted in 1994, but that did not keep Clinton’s Department of Veterans Affairs from using the law to disarm thousands upon thousands of veterans, without any due process.

ObamaCare gives tremendous authority to anti-gun bureaucrats.
Turning to what is written in the health care bill, section 1104 would give the Secretary of Health and Human Services (currently anti-gunner Kathleen Sebelius) broad authority to promulgate rules once ObamaCare becomes law.

For example, the bill requires health plans to certify, in writing, “that the data and information systems [demonstrate] to the Secretary that the plan conducts the electronic transactions … in a manner that fully complies with the regulations of the Secretary.” [Section 1104(b)(2).]

What health-related “gun” data do we fear would be required to be submitted under these rules? Increasingly, protocols are requiring that kids (and adults) be asked by physicians about loaded firearms in the household. A keyword search by BATFE of a federal database created by section 13001 of the stimulus bill — but enforced by the Senate version of ObamaCare — could produce something pretty close to a national gun registry.

Veterans have already been disarmed without due process.
In addition, between 115,000 and 150,000 veterans have had their gun rights permanently taken away from them because the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has appointed a financial guardian for them when they received counseling for common illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder — and all of this with no due process nor trial in a court of law. Under BATFE regulations issued during the Clinton administration, a diagnosis by a psychiatrist in connection with a government program (such as the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, Medicare, etc.) is sufficient to declare the person a “prohibited person” under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4).

Hence, BATFE could similarly take the position that a finding of Alzheimer’s, PTSD, or ADHD should result in the loss of gun rights. And, under the Senate ObamaCare bill, this information could be obtained by BATFE with nothing more than a keyword search of the newly created database.

Incidentally, federal privacy protections do not apply to law enforcement agencies like BATFE.

Higher insurance premiums for gun owners.
White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer also writes: “Nothing in the Senate health reform bill would lead to higher premiums for gun owners …. Section 2717 [specifically] lists what types of programs would be involved — such as smoking cessation, physical fitness, nutrition, heart disease prevention ….”

Well, as any lawyer would know, that list in section 2717 is “inclusive,” but is not “exclusive.”

Section 1201 of the bill creates “wellness” programs which allow consideration of behavioral issues in setting premiums and, presumably, determining activities which are so dangerous that coverage might be suspended. The definition of “wellness” includes some very broad issues, including obesity and “lifestyle.” But even these broad categories are not exclusive and do not prevent, for example, the consideration of firearms ownership — as State Farm and Prudential have already done on some occasions.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your Senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

The White House is refusing to admit the obvious. The Congressional Budget Office has exposed the fact that the emperor has no clothes, documenting that health insurance premiums will significantly rise if ObamaCare passes.

Similarly, the White House is refusing to admit that its prized piece of legislation could affect gun owners. The White House is plain wrong.

Please go to http://gunowners.org/ch11252009.htm to see Gun Owners of America’s response to the White House, showing the threat ObamaCare poses to gun rights.

Sincerely,

—————————————————————————

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- By now, you have probably heard the bad news regarding Saturday night’s vote on the anti-gun ObamaCare bill.

Sixty Senators voted to bring the legislation to the Senate floor for discussion and debate, which means that rather than killing the bill outright, we must fight to defeat it another day.

Saturday’s vote was very, very important. And every Senator who supported the legislation should be taken to the woodshed for casting an all-important vote in favor of the bill, at a time when we had the best chance to kill ObamaCare.

The good news is that we still hope to win our battle against ObamaCare, and we can do that because Saturday’s vote was not the only opportunity to filibuster the bill. At least four Senators — who voted for ObamaCare on Saturday — have said they will support a filibuster if the bill stays in its current form.

Nevertheless, it would have been nice to kill the legislation on Saturday, especially given that the American people had not had an opportunity to thoroughly look at it.

As you know, GOA’s legal team has reviewed each version of the legislation and found it wanting. GOA has reported on these problems for several months, and now, these concerns are starting to gain traction inside the Beltway.

Today, The Washington Post reported that GOA’s gun-related objections “could cause political indigestion for Democrats from conservative states,” thus threatening the eventual passage of the bill. The Post said:

“The conservative group Gun Owners of America sent out an action alert to its 300,000 members on Friday warning that the Senate legislation would mandate that doctors provide ‘gun-related health data’ to ‘a government database,’ including information on mental-health issues detected in patients, which could jeopardize their ability to obtain a firearms license.

“In addition, the group said the legislation’s ‘wellness’ provisions — designed to encourage more healthful lifestyles — would allow federal officials to mandate that companies charge higher insurance premiums for employees who own guns.”

Saturday night’s “cloture vote” is not the end of the road for us. But for the so-called “moderate” Democrats — Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and Evan Bayh of Indiana — it does make it clear that they were bribed into selling out the American people because Harry Reid ordered them to do so.

Can you spell R-E-C-A-L-L? GOA is looking into which states are the best targets for recalls — and you can be sure that we will be pursuing this option aggressively, exposing the Senators who sold their vote.

Landrieu’s price tag was $300 million — paid for by the American taxpayer. When a lobbyist gives a financial present to a Senator, they go to prison. Well, what’s the difference between that and what Harry Reid did? Senator Landrieu sold her vote!

But do not lose heart. The bill will be debated in the Senate over the coming weeks. And the first step is to let your senators know of your approval of their “no” vote or your strong disapproval of their “yes” vote.

Wondering how your Senator voted? Every Democrat and Independent Senator supported the bill. All Republican Senators voted “no,” except for Senator Voinovich of Ohio who missed the vote. To see the official roll call vote, go to: http://tinyurl.com/yaeu5am

ACTION: Please write your Senators. Let them know how you feel about their votes on cloture Saturday night. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Senators — the appropriate e-mail will automatically be sent, based on how they voted.

—– Prewritten letter for ANTI-GUN Senators who voted “yes” ——

Dear Senator:

Just so you know, I will not forget how you voted on Saturday, November 21 when you threw your support in favor of anti-gun socialized health care.

Even if you vote against it at some point in the future, you went on record (on Saturday) to vote for higher taxes and more gun control, at a time when the forces of freedom had the best chance to kill the bill.

I am VERY upset and I will not forget.

Sincerely,

—– Prewritten letter to thank Senators who voted “no” ——

Dear Senator:

Thank you so much for your vote against cloture on ObamaCare. I totally support the vote that you cast.

This bill will raise taxes and lead to more gun control, and I, for one, am glad that there are some Senators who are willing to stand up against socialized health care.

Regarding the latter point, readers of The Washington Post saw in the November 23 edition that:

“The conservative group Gun Owners of America sent out an action alert to its 300,000 members on Friday warning that the Senate legislation would mandate that doctors provide ‘gun-related health data’ to ‘a government database,’ including information on mental-health issues detected in patients, which could jeopardize their ability to obtain a firearms license.

“In addition, the group said the legislation’s ‘wellness’ provisions — designed to encourage more healthful lifestyles — would allow federal officials to mandate that companies charge higher insurance premiums for employees who own guns.”

I hope you will continue to oppose this bill and make sure the rights of gun owners are protected.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

—————————————————————————

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Tomorrow will be as important a day as any in our lifetimes in determining whether the anti-gun health care bill moves forward.

The key vote will be on shutting down a Republican filibuster of the ObamaCare bill, HR 3590. In the Senate, we are faced with a health care bill that:

• Costs $2.5 trillion during its first ten years of full implementation (2014-2023);
• Increases insurance premiums and imposes $376 billion in tax increases — many on the middle class; and
• Cuts Medicare by $465 billion, while increasing health costs by over $100 billion.

Fox News is reporting today that the word “tax” appears 183 times in the health care bill. Is Obama serious? Is that what he and Reid want to do to us in the midst of a recession?

Of course, all this increased spending — and taxes — means that you will have less money to spend on pursuing your real passions: like providing for your family and purchasing guns and ammunition!

The strategy in the Senate is to cram this bill down the American people’s throats before we have a chance to fully read and evaluate it. And the vote on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. will determine whether, at least initially, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be able to get away with this.

Gun Owners of America has already gone into several states represented by key Democrats who will be central to the Saturday vote. But this is sufficiently important that all 100 senators need to know where we stand.

Finally, as we have mentioned several times in the past, the mandates in the legislation will most likely dump your gun-related health data into a government database that was created in section 13001 of the stimulus bill. This includes any firearms-related information your doctor has gleaned… or any determination of PTSD, or something similar, that can preclude you from owning firearms.

And, the special “wellness and prevention” programs (inserted by Section 1001 of the bill as part of a new Section 2717 in the Public Health Services Act) would allow the government to offer lower premiums to employers who bribe their employees to live healthier lifestyles — and nothing within the bill would prohibit rabidly anti-gun HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from decreeing that “no guns” is somehow healthier.

We all need to contact our Senators right away.

Do you want left-wing bureaucrats appointed by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid determining whether you should own a gun via the health care system?

If not, then you need to call right away. Our gun rights — and the fate of our economy — are hanging in the balance.

ACTION: Call your two U.S. Senators. Please urge them to vote against “cloture” on the “motion to proceed” to HR 3590.

You can call your Senators toll-free at 1-877-762-8762. The phones are ringing off the hook right now on Capitol Hill. More likely than not, you will have to try several times because the circuits have been overloaded.

But don’t be discouraged… keep calling!

Also, ask your wife, your relatives, your neighbors, your church — everyone, short of your dog — to do the same. This is crunch time!

NOTE: The alternate, non toll-free, number is 202-224-3121.

—– TALKING POINTS —–

1. Support the filibuster of HR 3590 by voting NO on cloture.
2. Socialized health care is too expensive. I would rather spend my money the way I want to spend it!
3. Increasing my taxes during a recession is insane.
4. This bill will threaten to register me as a gun owner, because the mandates in this bill will force my medical information into the database that was created by the stimulus bill.
5. Vote NO on this bill!

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue.

GOA was founded in 1975 by Sen. H.L. (Bill) Richardson (now retired). Richardson continues to serve as the Chairman of Gun Owners of America, bringing his many years of political experience to the leadership of GOA. Richardson is also an avid hunter and outdoorsman.

The GOA Board of Directors brings over 100 years of combined knowledge and experience on guns, legislation and politics. GOA’s Board is not satisfied with the “status quo.” Americans have lost some of our precious gun rights and WE WANT THEM BACK! This is why GOA is considered the “no compromise” gun lobby.

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- It would have been nice if we were celebrating victory on ObamaCare today — and could turn our attention to other issues.

This was not to be, however, thanks to House Democrats who campaigned as “moderates,” but in the end, danced at the end of Nancy Pelosi’s strings.

Saturday, the House passed ObamaCare by a 220-215 vote. The bill now goes to the Senate, where South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham — hardly a staunch conservative — has pronounced it “dead on arrival.”

We remain convinced that we can and will kill ObamaCare, but only if the grassroots keep the pressure on.

ACTION: Write your Representative. Thank him — or reprimand him — for his vote on ObamaCare.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at

http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm

to send a pre-written message to your Representative — the appropriate e-mail will automatically be sent, based on how your Representative voted.

To see the official listing of how each Representative voted, you can go to http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml .

Pre-written letter to Representatives voting pro-gun.

——————————————————————————–

Dear Representative:

While I was very disappointed to see that ObamaCare passed, I want to thank you for your vote against the bill.

Even still, I am disturbed by the games the House leadership has been playing. The press has widely reported that Nancy Pelosi had given “byes” to a number of moderate Democrats, who would have voted for ObamaCare had their votes been needed.

I find it disgusting that there are Representatives who voted “no” on the bill, but were waiting in the wings to vote “yes if their support was needed. After all, this legislation is built upon several lies:

* It was a lie that this $1.2 trillion bill came in under $900 billion and that it will not increase the deficit, once you consider the $210-247 billion companion bill Pelosi’s trying to sneak through quietly.

* It was a lie that this bill will not raise taxes on the middle class — with $160 billion in tax penalties and taxes on everything from wheelchairs to artificial limbs — and that Americans will be able to keep the coverage they currently have under this bill.

* And it is a lie that supporters care anything about the Second Amendment, given their support of an ObamaCare bill which would put health-related gun information into a federal registry — and would allow Obama to use insurance to go against gun owners, as State Farm and Prudential have done in the past.

I hope that you will continue to vote against this bill if it comes before you again.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————————–

Pre-written letter to Representatives voting anti-gun.

——————————————————————————–

Dear Representative:

As far as I’m concerned, your vote for ObamaCare showed you are more interested in dancing at the end of Nancy Pelosi’s strings, rather than upholding the Constitution and truly representing your district.

This legislation is built upon several lies:

* It was a lie that this $1.2 trillion bill came in under $900 billion and that it will not increase the deficit, once you consider the $210-247 billion companion bill Pelosi’s trying to sneak through quietly.

* It was a lie that this bill will not raise taxes on the middle class — with $160 billion in tax penalties and taxes on everything from wheelchairs to artificial limbs — and that Americans will be able to keep the coverage they currently have under this bill.

* And it is a lie that supporters care anything about the Second Amendment, given their support of an ObamaCare bill which would put health-related gun information into a federal registry — and would allow Obama to use insurance to go against gun owners, as State Farm and Prudential have done in the past.

I intend to let everyone I know — my friends, my family, my church, and coworkers — that you cannot be trusted.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————————–

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Buckeye Firearms Foundation

Ohio - -(AmmoLand.com)- Buckeye Firearms Association is a single issue, non-partisan PAC concerned with gun rights. As such, the debate on health care reform occurring across the U.S. is not something that would be within our normal sphere of coverage.

However, my good friend Chad Baus posted a story a few days ago highlighting how the Centers for Disease Control has begun researching gun violence and the impact of gun violence on health care costs. This immediately set off alarm bells in my head as the pieces fell into place.

Why, you ask?

Health care reform is a brilliant way to regulate guns without violating the Second Amendment.

As an attorney, part of my job is risk management – sit around and think big thoughts on how things could go wrong, and then plan accordingly. (Some of my less charitable friends describe it as “being paid to think of ways to screw things up.”)

Health care reform, which seems completely innocuous to gun rights at first blush, is a Trojan Horse. Of that, there can be no doubt. The only real question is whether our enemies will choose to use it as such. Given the string of court and legislative defeats the anti-gun groups have suffered, is there any doubt whether the Brady Bunch will pass up an opportunity to regulate guns in this oblique manner?

Chad’s article pointed to a Washington Times editorial taking the CDC to task for circumventing congressional orders to abstain from gun control “research.” The original reasoning behind this “research” ban was that the CDC would be using tax dollars to advance a gun control agenda, and the taxpayers rightly put an end to these shenanigans. Now, under President Obama, the CDC is defying this ban by researching “health care costs” and how guns impact health insurance and health care services. If any reader is in doubt as to what the results of this “research” will be, you might as well stop reading now.

So, sometime in the near future, a tax-payer funded study will show that gunshot wounds take up a tremendous amount of medical resources, almost all of which goes unreimbursed, because the victims are uninsured. The study, of course, will fail to mention that the majority of this care goes to criminal/gang elements injured during illegal activities. I will readily concede that the Crips, Bloods, Triad, Mongols and the Mexican Mafia have woefully deficient employee benefit plans (no 401K, dental, paid vacation etc) but is that really a basis for national health insurance policy?

Why should gun owners care that this “research result” will show such an impact on health care costs?

Underwriting.
Insurance premiums are calculated, in part, based upon your risk group. If you smoke, your premiums are higher and/or it is harder to get coverage. Why? Cigarette smoking demonstrably increases your health care costs over the long term. Have diabetes? Ditto. High blood pressure and cholesterol? Get out your wallet.

So now, armed with a “study” showing that the presence of a gun greatly increases health care costs, gun owners are now considered a high risk group and the insurance companies have Science! to back up that claim. “Owning a gun is no different than having cancer…” “No sir, we aren’t violating your civil rights. You may still own whatever guns you wish, you just are going to pay at-risk rates rather than preferred rates.”

I assure the reader that this scenario is not far-fetched or fanciful, the mechanism is already in place and is capable of operating exactly as I have outlined. The only question is whether the antis will have the political will to use it in such a manner, and to what extent. (i.e would they try to divide us by “finding” that ownership of a $5,000.00 trap gun has no impact on healthcare costs, but ownership of a handgun does and ownership of an ugly black rifle drives the costs right through the roof.)

Here is a preview of the new health insurance application forms:

Name, address, age, gender, height, weight, prior medical conditions, do you smoke, do you own guns, if so how many and what kind….

Then there is the whole issue of de facto gun registration, since this information will now be on your wonderful, portable healthcare chart that is all residing on a computer someplace. Don’t forget the new taxes on guns and ammo to help provide insurance for those poor Crips, Bloods, Triad, Mongols and Mexican Mafia members who find themselves suffering from uninsured gunshot wounds incurred during a drug deal gone wrong . The anti-gun possibilities are limited only by the imagination.

Please don’t delude yourself into thinking that this would only be part of any “public option” insurance plan. The private insurance companies are going to be in direct competition with any of the pre-existing or new government insurance plans, so if the public plans get an “upcharge” for gun ownership you know the private ones are going to demand this extra money, too. After all, they have Science! to provide the justification for the higher premiums.

These are not paranoid delusions or ramblings, just possibilities that are there for the taking should the political muscle be flexed to do so.

So what do gun owners need to do? We need to be calling our “Congress Critters” and demand, at a minimum, two things. (If you are just outright opposed to any of the health care reform going on, simply add the above objections to the pile of objections you already have when you call in, and skip over making these demands.)

First, any health care reform bill must be absolutely, affirmatively firearm neutral. The law must explicitly state that no insurer, public or private, may use ownership or use of guns as a basis for underwriting or benefit decisions.

Second, any health care reform bill needs to explicitly deny insurance benefit payments for care provided to anyone who is harmed during the commission of a violent felony, and allow hospitals/doctors to choose to refuse treatment to these same people if they feel they can ethically do so. They may ethically feel they have to treat these people, but you and I should not be subsidizing medical care to Johnny Crackhead when he finds himself shot during a robbery, nor should we be subsidizing someone’s ethics. It is time these criminals start bearing the consequence of their actions and allow natural selection to work its magic.

Ken Hanson is a gun rights attorney in Ohio who serves as the Legislative Chair for Buckeye Firearms Association. He is the attorney of record for Buckeye Firearms Foundation, which filed an amicus brief in the Heller case. In 2008, the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) awarded him with its Defender of Justice Award. He is the author of The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws, a certified firearms instructor and holds a Type 01 Federal Firearms License.

About:
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities.

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Charles Babington of the Associated Press reported yesterday about the Senate Democratic leadership’s latest sleazy maneuver to pass the anti-gun health care bill. And this is contemptible even by their admittedly low standards:

White House and Democratic officials are quietly talking with key senators, hoping to craft a thread-the-needle strategy on health care with little or no help from Republicans. The officials are asking a handful of moderate Democrats to do something that might be hard to explain to voters: Cast a Senate vote that could be interpreted as favoring a bill that the lawmakers ultimately plan to oppose on final passage.

In other words, they are trying to convince the swing votes — Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, perhaps Joe Lieberman of Connecticut — to “throw” their vote on a pivotal filibuster vote. Bottom line: they are being asked to side with the ObamaCare supporters when it comes to the all important “cloture” vote — which is the real hurdle that ObamaCare supporters must overcome if they are to pass the bill in the Senate.

The cloture vote determines whether a filibuster will continue or not, and it requires the support of 60 Senators. Siding with the ObamaCare supporters on the cloture vote would allow the “swing voters” to oppose the bill on final passage, where only 50 votes (plus the Vice-President) are needed.

Under this scenario, the moderate Democrats would then go back to their constituents and claim to have opposed the anti-gun health care bill because they voted against it on “final passage.” But the critical vote which will have determined the real outcome of ObamaCare will have been the cloture vote. They will claim that the cloture vote was only a “procedural vote.”

It is hard to imagine that anyone with an IQ over 50 would think anyone would swallow this scumbag trick.

But, just to make sure, we are asking our members to let senators know what the response will be for any senator who casts a deciding vote to pass the anti-gun health care bill on cloture, and then tries to trick them.

ACTION: Please write your Senators. Let them know that the 60-vote-margin votes on “cloture” are the important health care votes. No one will be fooled by a senator who votes wrong on these and then casts a meaningless vote against final passage.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

Charles Babington of the Associated Press reported on September 16 about the Senate Democratic leadership’s latest sleazy maneuver to pass the anti-gun health care bill.

They are reportedly trying to convince the “swing” senators to “throw” the pivotal 60-vote cloture vote on shutting down debate on the anti-gun bill. The “swings” would then be allowed to vote against the bill on final passage, where only 50 votes (plus the Vice-President) are needed.

Under this scenario, the senators would then go back to their constituents and claim to have opposed the anti-gun health care bill because they voted against it on “final passage.” The critical outcome-determinative votes on “cloture” and on “waiving the budget act” — which will determine whether the bill passes or fails — would only have been “procedural votes,” they would argue.

It is hard to imagine that anyone with an IQ over 50 would think anyone would swallow this dirty trick.

But, just to make sure, we want to let you know that no one will be fooled if a senator casts a deciding vote to pass the anti-gun health care bill on cloture or waiving the budget act, and then tries to trick us with a meaningless vote against final passage.

To reiterate: The important votes are the 60-vote-margin votes on “cloture” and on “waiving the budget act.” No one will be fooled by a senator who votes wrong on these and then casts a meaningless vote against final passage.

Gun Owners of America will continue to inform me as to what is happening on this important issue.

Sincerely,

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About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. ‘The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

Virginia Gun Owners Coalition

Virginia – -(AmmoLand.com)- At first glance, the two issues might seem unrelated, which is why some VGOC supporters have been asking me, “Why are gun owners getting into the health care debate?”

My friend Paul Valone at the Charlotte Gun Rights Examiner gives one of the best answers I have seen.

He points out that the British Medical Association is working with police to “tag” medical records of gun licensees. The same thing will happen here in America if Obama Care in the form of HR 3200 becomes law.

You see, HR 2640, the latest NRA sellout that disarmed thousands of veterans in 2007, ”Created the mechanism for centralizing mental health records.” So, for Americans, the process has already begun.

The Obama Care Bill in the form of HR 3200 would enable the government to use medical data however it pleases, including barring from gun ownership tens of thousands of people treated for anger management, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and other ailments.

Please read Paul Valone’s article at this link.

http://bit.ly/HealthCareImpactsGunRights

ACTION: Virginia residents please forward this article to all your family and friends asking them to email Senator Webb at Trevor_Moe@webb.senate.gov with a copy to president@vgoc.org

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Dear Senator Webb,

Please be advised that I will consider a vote for HR 3200 or any other form of Health Care that will give the government access to my health records as an anti-gun vote.

I don’t want the government disarming me, like it has our veterans, without even the due process of a contested court hearing, just because of a doctor’s diagnosis.

YOUR NAME HERE

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About:
Virginia Gun Owners Coalition is Virginia’s only no-compromise, non-partisan gun lobby patterned after Gun Owners of America on Capitol Hill. VGOC is a non-profit tax-exempt organization under 501(c)(4) of the IRS code. Because we lobby politicians to protect and defend the 2nd Amendment, contributions are not tax deductible for IRS purposes.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Virginia – -(AmmoLand.com)- Bruce Jackson emailed me this report about passing out “Guns Save Lives” stickers at a recent Mark Warner townhall event.

We, myself and the youngest, got there late, about 6:30, and started passing out the paper GSL stickers. We got about 3/4 through the first pass when they started. We finished by just making several passes through. Ended up giving out about 1000. The expo center folks estimated the crowd to be about 1400. They had set up 2200 chairs.

People asked about the blue GSL stickers I had in my backpack. Sold a few @ $1 ea.

I was approached by one women who stated “My nephew killed himself with a gun that was given to him by the chief of police so I find your sticker offensive.” She then turned and started to walk off. I asked, “Are you going to give me a chance to respond?,” but she kept walking. Emotion over logic in action…again.

When it got closer to the end of the event we took a position by the doors and hawked both the blue (old standard) and the orange (new round) bumper stickers.

Sold several of each. One person gave $5 for 1 sticker. Another handed me $20 and walked away. She came back about 10 minutes later and picked up one.

One woman approached me and made an inverse comparison between the size of my gun and a specific body part. Funny thing was, my holster was empty as the event was anti-gun (what is the inverse of zero anyway?). [PVC: Infinity. Nice complement you got there, Bruce ]

One gentleman approached me and asked “How can you say ‘guns save lives’?” I explained the study by Dr. Gary Kleck. He said he was on the other side of the issue, but it was something to think about and thanked me.

Several asked what guns had to do with heath care . . . I need a better sound-bite for that one. The explanation that health care bills could easily be used to overrun gun rights was more than many could comprehend. At least one looked at me like I was talking about space aliens and stated, “That could never happen!”

Total income for the VCDL $99.00. Total public relations value based on the hundreds of thumbs up received? Priceless!

About:
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right. Vist: www.vcdl.org